Mint is an industrial plant that is a good source of essential oil and many phenolic compounds that have several positive benefits to human health and can be used to prevent the development of many diseases. The aim of this research was to investigate the possibility of increasing essential oil and flavonoid content, changing the chemical composition of these compounds in different mint cultivars under foliar application with precursors (phenylalanine, tryptophan, and tyrosine) at two concentrations, 100 and 200 mg L-1, to enable the possibilities for wider use of these plants when they are grown in field conditions. Spraying with phenylalanine at 100 mg L-1 concentration increased essential oil content in Mentha piperita 'Granada' plants by 0.53 percentage units. Foliar application with tyrosine solutions at 100 mg L-1 concentration most effectively influenced the essential oil odor profile Mentha spicata 'Crispa'. The highest number of total flavonoids was in Mentha piperita 'Swiss' sprayed with tyrosine at 100 mg L-1 concentration. The flavonoid content depended on the mint cultivar, amino acids, and their concentration. The results showed that the effect of amino acid solutions on different secondary metabolites' quantitative and qualitative composition differed depending on the mint cultivar; therefore, amino acids and their concentrations must be selected based on the cultivar they are targeting.
Keywords: Mentha piperita; Mentha spicata; aromatic amino acids; secondary metabolites.