## 4 Discussion
[37], analyzing the same plant species, obtained the following values: lemon balm: 17.77 g/100 g; peppermint: 12.88 g/100 g; and narrowleaved lavender: 10.49 g/100 g. The result obtained in these tests for peppermint is most similar to that obtained in this study (12.60 g/100 g DM). These authors also analyzed the fat content and obtained 6.55 g/100 g for lavender, 6.12 g/100 g for lemon balm and 5.10 g/100 g for mint, although these are much higher results compared to those presented in our study. It should be noted that lavender turned out to be the species richest in this ingredient (3.37 g/100 g DM), although in this case, it was not statistically confirmed. [PERSON] et al. [34] obtained fat content ranging from 8.96 to 5.64% in different species of the same family. In these studies, _Melissa officinalis_ L. had a fat content of 5.85%. In turn, in the work of [PERSON] et al. [30], significantly lower fat values were obtained for peppermint, ranging from 0.24 g/100 gsm for fresh mint to 3.18 g/100 g for mint vacuum-dried at 50 \({}^{\circ}\)C. In a study by [PERSON] et al. [38], fresh peppermint had 0.50% fat, while dried peppermint had 5%. In this study, the estimated total carbohydrate content ranged from 84.31 g/100 g DM for peppermint to 88.18 g/100 g DM for lemon balm and 88.76 g/100 g DM for lavender. The work of [PERSON] et al. [37] indicates lower total carbohydrate contents for the same species in the same order: 59.02 g/100 g DM, 57.27 g/100 g DM and 58.38 g/100 g DM, respectively. In turn, [PERSON] et al. [36] examined the basic composition of the dried herbs mint, lemon balm and lavender from Croatia, obtaining a carbohydrate content of 79.30 g/kg DM for lemon balm, 82.83 g/kg DM for narrowleaved lavender and 113.7 g/kg for peppermint. The ash content in the herbs analyzed in this study was low and ranged from 0.22 to 0.48 g/100 g dm. No statistical significance was found between the analyzed species. Similarly, in the study by [PERSON] et al. [35], no significant differences were found in the ash content in mint and lemon balm; however, higher values were obtained: 11.41 g/100 g and 11.67 g/100 g. [PERSON] et al. [37] showed ash contents of 8.30 g/100 g in mint, 11.02 g/100 g in lemon balm and 11.71 g/100 g in lavender. In turn, [PERSON] et al. [30] found 3.3 g/100 g DM in fresh peppermint. Research conducted by [PERSON] et al. [39] indicated large differences in ash content for different species of herbs grown in Jordan. In their research, the authors used air-dried plants for 7 days and analyzed the composition of 10 species of herbs. In these tests, they obtained ash content from 2.02% for _Thymus capitatus_ L. to 17.3% for _Coriardem sativum_ and 17.5% for _Petroselinum crispum_. The explanation for this variability is probably due to environmental factors and botanical variability. The obtained test results showed a different degree of antioxidant activity and a different content of total polyphenic compounds depending on the plant species and the extract used. Many authors draw attention to the differences between the antioxidant properties of different species of herbs belonging to the family _Lamiacea_ and the varied content of polyphenic compounds [40; 41; 42; 43]. However, it should be noted that comparison of the obtained results with other scientific literature is often not possible due to the use of different research methods, different solvents and a different way of expressing the results. Many authors pay attention to the problem of comparing results presented in different works due to different research methods [44; 45]. Testing the antioxidant properties using the ABTS method clearly confirmed the greatest potential of lemon balm, regardless of the extract used in the tests. [PERSON] et al. [44] reached similar conclusions when examining water infusions of these species. The ABTS values obtained from lemon balm were significantly different from the others (except oregano).