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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== Wintergreen berries, from ''Gaultheria procumbens'', are used medicinally. Native Americans brewed a tea from the leaves to alleviate rheumatic symptoms, headache, fever, sore throat, and various aches and pains. These therapeutic effects likely arose because the primary metabolite of methyl salicylate is salicylic acid, a proven NSAID that is also the metabolite of acetylsalicylic acid, commonly known as aspirin. During the American Revolution, wintergreen leaves were used as a substitute for tea, which was scarce.〔(Prescription for Herbal Healing By Phyllis A. Balch, Robert Rister )〕 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 also a common flavoring for dental hygiene products such as mouthwash and toothpaste. Wintergreen oil can also be used in fine art printing applications to transfer a color photocopy image or color laser print to a high-rag-content art paper, such as a hot-press watercolor paper. The transfer method involves coating the source image with the wintergreen oil then placing it face-down on the target paper and pressing the pieces of paper together under pressure using a standard etching press. Artificial wintergreen oil, which is pure methyl salicylate, is used in microscopy because of its high refractive index.〔Cecilia W. Lo, 2000. ''Developmental biology protocols'', Volume 1, Springer (in google books )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Wintergreen」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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