Nutmeg (Myristica fragrans, Myristicaceae) is endemic to the Indonesian Banda Islands (Maluku Province ) or the so called Spice Islands. The name nutmeg is probably derived from Latin nux muscatus meaning "musky nut". Nutmeg has been used in China since the 7th century and in India since the 9th century for stomach problems, and mouth sores. Nutmeg was first brought to Europe by the Portuguese around 1512 and its hallucinogenic properties were soon discovered by the Westerners. Nutmegs were highly in demand as a spice and as an alleged narcotic and the Yankee peddlers are reported to have sold fake wooden nutmegs. Due to this wide-spread trade that prevailed in the 17th and 18th century, the state of Connecticut came to be known popularly as the Nutmeg state.

Nutmeg is cultivated in India, Iran, the West Indies, Indonesian Islands and South America. The nutmeg tree thrives in hot, moist climates and in well-drained soils, and need partial shade during early growth. Nutmeg is propagated by seeds and the seedlings are transplanted when ~10 to 12 inches tall. The trees begin to bear after 7 to 8 years of planting, reach their prime in 25 years, and continue to bear fruit for over 60 years of age.

Nutmeg is a tropical evergreen tree growing to 70 feet (21 m) tall. The trunk is grayish brown with smooth bark. The leaves are brownish, oblong or elliptical, glabrous, dark green and glossy above with a paler green on the lower surface. The flowers are small, light yellow and bell-shaped. The male and female flowers are borne on separate trees (dioecious). The fruit is a drupe, grooved like an apricot, reddish to yellowish. The fruits turn to a dark brown, crinkle up and split into two valves on maturity. The brown seed (nutmeg) is surrounded by a scarlet aril (mace). The nutmeg fruit hangs from the branches in a pendulous manner and gives the tree an attractive appearance when in fruit.

The seeds are collected when the fruits ripen and split. The scarlet aril surrounding the seed is separated and dried in the sun, which is called mace. The seed is dried in the sun for two to three months, turned every few days for uniform drying until the kernel starts to rattle within the shell, and then cracked and removed. Nutmeg is used for both culinary and medicinal purposes in its area of origin, primarily for diarrhea, mouth sores, and insomnia. The Arabs used nutmeg for stomach problems and as an aphrodisiac, while the Indians used this as a spice and described it as warmth-producing, stimulating, and good for digestion. Indian traditional Ayurvedic and Unanai medicine uses it to ease headaches and fever. The outer fleshy aril of the fruit, mace, is made into an ointment and used for rheumatism. Nutmeg is one of several herbs kept in home medicine kits in India and given to children to induce sleep and to cool an excessively "heated" body.

The Ayurvedic Indian medicine men prescribe it for headache, fevers, mouth-sores, excessive heat of the body, foul-breathe, intestinal weakness, as an analgesic, and a sedative. Despite its popularity as a perceived narcotic in the West, very few cases of nutmeg's hallucinogenic or other psychoactive properties other than a mild sedative action are reported in the countries of origin. The unripe pericarp of the nutmeg fruit is preserved in sugar, salted and dried as a condiment, or made into jellies and other preserves. The pulp of the ripe fruit is also eaten. Grated or ground nutmeg is used as a spice and a warm aromatic, slightly bitter in taste. It is often added to desserts, custards, confectionery, meats, sausages, sauces, bakery, puddings, pies, certain vegetable dishes, and milk drinks like flavored coffee and egg-nog. The mace is also popular for its strong aroma similar to that of nutmeg.

Nutmeg is used in small dosages in traditional medicine to treat flatulence, aid digestion, improve the appetite and treat diarrhea, vomiting and nausea (1). The reported functional, medicinal and narcotic properties of nutmeg are due to myrsiticin. Myristicin when taken in large dosages can cause hallucinations, vomiting, and epileptic symptoms. Nutmeg has been reported as an anti-plaque against a cariogenic bacterium, Streptococcus mutans (2). Nutmeg oil (an essential oil extracted from the nut) also showed effective antibacterial activity against 25 different genera of bacteria, including animal and plant pathogens, food poisoning and spoilage bacteria (3). Dorman & Deans, 2000); and antifungal activity against several pathogenic fungi including Aspergillus flavus and Candida albicans (4).

The seed extracts of nutmeg also demonstrated a hypercholesterolemic activity and reduced serum cholesterol and LDL Cholesterol, prevented the accumulation of cholesterol, phospholipids and triglycerides in liver, heart and aorta, and dissolved atheromatous plaques of aorta in rabbits (5). The medicinal property of mace and its potential use as a possible chemopreventive, antiinflammant, analgesic and an antithrombotic agent has been studied in rodents (6- 9). Topical application of mace also reduced symptoms of skin cancer in mice (6).

References

1. Van GC, Cox PA. 1994. Ethnobotany of nutmeg in the Spice Islands. J Ethnopharmacol 42(2):117-124.
2. Namba T, Tsunezuka M, Dissanayake DMRB, Pilapitiya U, Saito K, Kakiuchi N, Hattori M. 1985. Studies on dental caries prevention by traditional medicines (Part VII). Screening of ayurvedic medicines for anti-plaque action. Shoyakugaku Zasshi 39(2):146-153.
3. Dorman HJ, Deans SG. 2000. Antimicrobial agents from plants: antibacterial activity of plant volatile oils. J Applied Microbiol 88(2):308-316.
4. Rahman AU, Choudhary MI, Farooq AAA, Iqbal MZ, Demirci B, Demirci F, Baser KHC. 2000. Antifungal activities and essential oil constituents of some spices from Pakistan. J Chem Soc Pak 22(1):60-65.
5. Sharma A, Mathur R, Dixit VP. 1995. Prevention of hypercholesterolemia and atherosclerosis in rabbits after supplementation of Myristica fragrans seed extract. Indian J Physiol Pharmacol 39(4):407-410.
6. Jannu LN, Hussain SP, Rao AR. 1991. Chemopreventive action of mace (Myristica fragrans, Houtt) on DMBA-induced papillomagenesis in the skin of mice. Cancer Lett. 56(1):59-63.
7. Nakajima I. 1989. Myristica fragrans extract as neoplasm inhibitor. Jpn. Kokai Tokkyo Koho, 5 pp.
8. Olajide OA, Ajayi FF, Ekhelar AI, Awe SO, Makinde JM, Alada AR. 1999. Biological effects of Myristica fragrans (nutmeg) extract. Phytotherapy Res 13(4):344-345.
9. Ozaki Y, Soedigdo S, Wattimena YR, Suganda, AG. 1989. Antiinflammatory effect of mace, aril of Myristica fragrans Houtt., and its active principles. Jpn J Pharmacol 49(2):155-163.

|