Nutmeg and mace

Nutmeg and mace (Myristica fragrans). Reprinted from Culbreth DMR. (1927). Materia Medica and Pharmacognosy, 7th ed. Philadelphia Lea Febiger. 

From lowland rain forests come nutmeg and mace some members of the family yield a wax of limited use and a hallucinogen of the northwest Amazon. 

Oils may contain toxic compounds. For example, Myristicin is the compound that flavors nutmeg and mace it is also found in black pepper and carrot, parsley, and celery seeds. Used in culinary quantities, myristicin is only a flavoring. In massive doses, it causes hallucination. Thujone, the anise-flavored oil in wormwood, caused an epidemic of brain disease in drinkers addicted to the now-banned liquor absinthe. Sassafras contains a toxic oil similar to thujone, which is why it is no longer used to make root beer. Very high doses of menthol, from peppermint, may cause dangerous irregularities in the heart s rhythm (Weiss, 1997)... 

As an average, import values of nutmeg, mace and cardamom decreased by 7% annually, whereas volumes recorded a slight increase over 2000—2004. Imports of cardamom made up 60% and nutmeg and mace 40% of the total import value of US 204 million in 2004. 

Nutmeg and mace (Myristica fragrans Houtt) Myristicin, elemicin ... 

Table 9.4. Fatty acid profile of nutmeg and mace.

Essential oil yield and composition of nutmeg and mace collected from Grenada revealed that the quality of the two oils was very similar, but they showed variation in the quantity of the components. The nutmeg... 

Nutmeg and mace oils from Indonesia, the West Indies and Papua New Guinea showed clear-cut differences in the composition. The oils differed in the composition of the aromatic ether fraction. The most abundant aromatic ether was myristicin in East Indian oils, elemicin in the West Indian oils and safrole in the Papuan oils (Ehlers et al., 1998). Chang Yen et al. (1996) reported that Grenadian nutmeg oils contained more sab-inene and less myristicin and safrole than oils from other geographic regions. 

Nutmeg pericarp oil contained 16 monoterpenes (60%), nine monoterpene alcohols (29%), eight aromatic ethers (7%), three sesquiterpenes (1%), six esters (1%) and eight other minor components. The components were similar to those in nutmeg and mace oils but differed substantially in concentration (Table 9.11). The chief constituents were a-pinene, a-ter-pineol and terpinen-4-ol. The sabinene, myristicin and safrole concentrations were much lower, while the terpinen-4-ol and a-terpineol contents were much higher than in nutmeg and mace oils (Choo et al., 1999). The chief volatiles from nutmeg and mace are indicated in Fig. 9.1. 

Variyar and Bandyopadhyay (1995) determined the phenolic acid profile of nutmeg and mace. The chief phenolic acids in nutmeg were caffeic acid and vanillic acid, whereas ferulic acid and synapic acids predominated in mace. 

Nutmeg is used more commonly in Oriental medicine than in Western medicine. Medicinally, it is known for its stimulative and carminative properties. The seeds are carminative, stomachic, astringent, deodorant, narcotic and aphrodisiac, and useful in flatulence, nausea and vomiting. The antioxidant property of nutmeg was reviewed by Krishnamoorthy and Rema (2000). Both nutmeg and mace are used in the pharmaceutical industries. Powdered nutmeg is rarely administered alone, but it enters into the composition of numerous medicines as aromatic adjuncts. 

Another application of nutmeg essential oils is in aromatherapy, which is gaining importance these days. The main constituents of nutmeg and mace - myristicin, elemicin and isoelemicin - when presented in aroma form, act as stress relievers. In Japan, many companies diffuse such aromas through air ventilation systems to improve the work environment, as well as the quality of the air. 

Both nutmeg and mace contain the active ingredient myristicin, which pos-... 

To export spices and spice products, exporting countries have to comply with the specifications laid down by regulatory agencies in the importing countries. Specifications for whole and ground nutmeg and mace are indicated in Tables 9.13 to 9.16. 

Nutmeg and mace are the two major primary products of M. fragrans and are considered commercially as spices. The constituents of nutmeg can be classified broadly into terpenoids, fatty acids, phenolic acids, lig-nans, neolignans and miscellaneous compounds. The oil content ranges from 3.9 to 16.5% in nutmeg, whereas in mace it varies from 6.0 to 26.1%. The major constituents of the essential oil in nutmeg and mace are sabinene and pinenes. The chief... 

Ehlers, D., Kirchhoff, J., Gerard, D. and Quirin, K.W. (1 998) High performance liquid chromatography analysis of nutmeg and mace oils produced by supercritical C02 extraction - comparison with steam distilled oils, comparison of East Indian, West Indian and Papuan oils. International Journal of Food Science and Technology 33(3), 215-223. 

Forrest, J.E., Heacock, R.A. and Forrest, T.P. (1974) Diarylpropanoids from nutmeg and mace (Myristica fragrans Houtt.). Journal of Chemical Society - Perkin Transactions I 1 974, 205-209. 

Copalakrishnan, M. (1992) Chemical composition of nutmeg and mace. Journal of Spices and Aromatic Crops 1 (1), 49-54. 

Lawrence, B.M. (1979) Major tropical spices - nutmeg and mace (M. fragrans Houtt.). In Essential Oils 1978. Allured Publishing Corp., Carol Stream, Illinois, pp. 50-103. 

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