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Wintergreen
Wintergreen is a group of aromatic plants. The term ''wintergreen'' once commonly referred to plants that remain green (continue photosynthesis) throughout the winter. The term ''evergreen'' is now more commonly used for this characteristic. Most species of the shrub genus ''Gaultheria'' demonstrate this characteristic and are called wintergreens in North America, the most common generally being the American wintergreen ('' Gaultheria procumbens''). Wintergreens in the genus ''Gaultheria'' contain an aromatic compound, methyl salicylate, and are used as a mintlike flavoring. Uses The berries of most species can be eaten raw or used in pies. Wintergreen is a common flavoring in American products ranging from chewing gum, mints, and candies to smokeless tobacco such as dipping tobacco (American "dip" snuff) and snus. It is a common flavoring for dental hygiene products such as mouthwash and toothpaste. It is often a component of root beer, which originated in the United St ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gaultheria Procumbens
''Gaultheria procumbens'', also called the eastern teaberry, the checkerberry, the boxberry, or the American wintergreen, is a species of ''Gaultheria'' native to northeastern North America from Newfoundland west to southeastern Manitoba, and south to Alabama. It is a member of the Ericaceae (heath family). Growth and habitat ''G. procumbens'' is a small, low-growing shrub, typically reaching tall. The leaves are evergreen, elliptic to ovate, long and broad, with a distinct oil of wintergreen scent. The flowers are pendulous, with a white, sometimes pink-tinged, bell-shaped corolla with five teeth at the tip long, and above it a white calyx. They are borne in leaf axils, usually one to three per stem. The anthers are forked somewhat like a snake's tongue, with two awns at the tip. The fruit is red and across. It is an epigynous berry, with the majority of the flesh of the fruit being composed of the fleshy calyx. The plant is a calcifuge, favoring acidic soil, in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Methyl Salicylate
Methyl salicylate (oil of wintergreen or wintergreen oil) is an organic compound with the formula C8H8O3. It is the methyl ester of salicylic acid. It is a colorless, viscous liquid with a sweet, fruity odor reminiscent of root beer (in which it is used as a flavoring), but often association (psychology), associatively called "minty", as it is an ingredient in mint candies. It is produced by many species of plants, particularly wintergreens. It is also produced synthetically, used as a fragrance and as a flavoring agent. Biosynthesis and occurrence Methyl salicylate was first isolated (from the plant ''Gaultheria procumbens'') in 1843 by the French chemist Auguste André Thomas Cahours (1813–1891), who identified it as an ester of salicylic acid and methanol. The biosynthesis of methyl salicylate arises via the hydroxylation of benzoic acid by a cytochrome P450 followed by reaction with a methyltransferase enzyme. Methyl salicylate as a plant metabolite Many plants produce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gaultheria
''Gaultheria'' is a genus of about 283 species of shrubs in the family Ericaceae. The name commemorates Jean François Gaultier of Quebec, an honour bestowed by the Scandinavian Pehr Kalm in 1748 and taken up by Carl Linnaeus in his '. These plants are native to Asia, Australasia and North and South America. In the past, the Southern Hemisphere species were often treated as the separate genus ''Pernettya'', but no consistent reliable morphological or genetic differences support recognition of two genera, and they are now united in the single genus ''Gaultheria''. Description The species vary from low, ground-hugging shrubs less than tall, up to tall, or, in the case of '' G. fragrantissima'' from the Himalayas, even a small tree up to tall. The leaves are evergreen, alternate (opposite in '' G. oppositifolia'' from New Zealand), simple, and vary between species from long; the margins are finely serrated or bristly in most species, but entire in some. The flowers ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Root Beer
Root beer is a North American soft drink traditionally made using the root bark of the sassafras tree '' Sassafras albidum'' or the vine of '' Smilax ornata'' (known as sarsaparilla; also used to make a soft drink called sarsaparilla) as the primary flavor. Root beer is typically, but not exclusively, non-alcoholic, caffeine-free, sweet, and carbonated. Like cola, it usually has a thick and foamy head. A common use is to add vanilla ice cream to make a root beer float. Since safrole, a key component of sassafras, was banned by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1960 due to its carcinogenicity, most commercial root beers have been flavored using artificial sassafras flavoring, but a few (e.g. Hansen's) use a safrole-free sassafras extract. Major root beer producers include PepsiCo, Coca-Cola Company, Dad's, Keurig Dr. Pepper, Sprecher, and A&W. History Root beer has been drunk in the United States since at least the eighteenth century. It has been sold in co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Snus
Snus (, ; ) is a Swedish smokeless tobacco, tobacco product. It is consumed by placing a pouch of powdered tobacco leaves under the lip for nicotine to be absorbed through the Mucous membrane, oral mucosa. Snus, not to be confused with Nicotine pouch, nicotine pouches, consists of ground up tobacco leaves, salt, an alkalizer (e.g. sodium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate) and (optionally) flavorings. The final product is sold as both loose tobacco, and in portions with the tobacco mixture contained in a small teabag-like pouch. The manufacturing process of snus differs from that of other oral tobacco products. Snus tobacco is heated and pasteurized rather than cured or fermented, resulting in a less harmful product which contains a lower concentration of TSNA carcinogens in comparison to other traditional tobacco products. Though research on the connection between snus and disease such as cancer is not conclusive, and some studies find no associations between snus consumptio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dipping Tobacco
Dipping tobacco is a type of finely ground or shredded, moistened smokeless tobacco product. It is commonly and idiomatically known as ''dip''. Dipping tobacco is used by placing a pinch, or "dip", of tobacco between the lip and the gum (sublabial administration). The act of using it is called ''dipping''. Dipping tobacco is colloquially called ''chaw'', ''snuff'', ''rub'', or ''fresh leaf'' among other terms; because of this, it is sometimes confused with other tobacco products—namely dry snuff. Using dipping tobacco can cause various harmful effects such as oral, oesophageal, and pancreatic cancers, coronary heart disease, as well as negative reproductive effects including stillbirth, premature birth and low birth weight. Dipping tobacco poses a lower health risk than traditional combusted products, however, it is not a healthy alternative to cigarette smoking. The level of risk varies between different types of products and producing regions. There is no safe level of d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toothpaste
Toothpaste is a paste or gel dentifrice that is used with a toothbrush to clean and maintain the aesthetics of Human tooth, teeth. Toothpaste is used to promote oral hygiene: it is an abrasive that aids in removing dental plaque and food from the teeth, assists in suppressing halitosis, and delivers active ingredients (most commonly fluoride) to help prevent tooth decay (dental caries) and gum disease (gingivitis).American Dental Association Description of Toothpaste Due to variations in composition and fluoride content, not all toothpastes are equally effective in maintaining oral health. The decline of tooth decay during the 20th century has been attributed to the introduction and regular use of fluoride-containing toothpastes worldwide. Large amounts of swallowed toothpaste can be poisonous. Common colors for toothpaste include white (sometimes with colored stripes or green tint) and blue. History Early toothpastes Since 5000 BCE, the Egyptians made a tooth powder, which cons ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aromatic Plant
An essential oil is a concentrated hydrophobic liquid containing volatile (easily evaporated at normal temperatures) chemical compounds from plants. Essential oils are also known as volatile oils, ethereal oils, aetheroleum, or simply as the oil of the plant from which they were extracted, such as oil of clove. An essential oil is essential in the sense that it contains the essence of the plant's fragrance—the characteristic fragrance of the plant from which it is derived. The term "essential" used here does ''not'' mean required or usable by the human body, as with the terms essential amino acid or essential fatty acid, which are so called because they are nutritionally required by a living organism. Essential oils are generally extracted by distillation, often by using steam. Other processes include expression, solvent extraction, '' sfumatura'', absolute oil extraction, resin tapping, wax embedding, and cold pressing. They are used in perfumes, cosmetics, soaps, air fre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Refractive Index
In optics, the refractive index (or refraction index) of an optical medium is the ratio of the apparent speed of light in the air or vacuum to the speed in the medium. The refractive index determines how much the path of light is bent, or refraction, refracted, when entering a material. This is described by Snell's law of refraction, , where and are the angle of incidence (optics), angle of incidence and angle of refraction, respectively, of a ray crossing the interface between two media with refractive indices and . The refractive indices also determine the amount of light that is reflectivity, reflected when reaching the interface, as well as the critical angle for total internal reflection, their intensity (Fresnel equations) and Brewster's angle. The refractive index, n, can be seen as the factor by which the speed and the wavelength of the radiation are reduced with respect to their vacuum values: the speed of light in a medium is , and similarly the wavelength in that me ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Biodegradable
Biodegradation is the breakdown of organic matter by microorganisms, such as bacteria and fungi. It is generally assumed to be a natural process, which differentiates it from composting. Composting is a human-driven process in which biodegradation occurs under a specific set of circumstances. The process of biodegradation is threefold: first an object undergoes biodeterioration, which is the mechanical weakening of its structure; then follows biofragmentation, which is the breakdown of materials by microorganisms; and finally assimilation, which is the incorporation of the old material into new cells. In practice, almost all chemical compounds and materials are subject to biodegradation, the key element being time. Things like vegetables may degrade within days, while glass and some plastics take many millennia to decompose. A standard for biodegradability used by the European Union is that greater than 90% of the original material must be converted into , water and minerals b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Non-toxic
Toxicity is the degree to which a chemical substance or a particular mixture of substances can damage an organism. Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an animal, bacteria, bacterium, or plant, as well as the effect on a substructure of the organism, such as a cell (biology), cell (cytotoxicity) or an organ such as the liver (hepatotoxicity). Sometimes the word is more or less synonymous with poison#Poisoning, poisoning in everyday usage. A central concept of toxicology is that the effects of a toxicant are Dose (biochemistry), dose-dependent; even water can lead to water intoxication when taken in too high a dose, whereas for even a very toxic substance such as snake venom there is a dose below which there is no detectable toxic effect. Toxicity is species-specific, making cross-species analysis problematic. Newer paradigms and metrics are evolving to bypass animal testing, while maintaining the concept of toxicity endpoints. Etymology In Ancient G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
