Nutmeg

ELEMICIN In varying amounts in citronella, elemi, mace, nutmeg, parsley snakeroot and tarragon. 

MYRISTICIN In moderate amounts in dill, carrot, celery, fennel, mace and nutmeg (no more than 10% tops). Makes up about 40% of the oil of parsnip and can reach up to 50-60% of the oil of parsley leaves and seeds. Give nutmeg a rest folks It just don t have it when compared to parsley and parsnip. 

The synthesis of MMDA in Pihkal is one of the longest and most tedious in the book. If one is going the route via myristicin, the Sisifos work of isolating the tiny amount of essential oil present in nutmeg, followed by fractional distillation to purify the myristicin fraction is also added to the labor of the poor chemist. Therefore I propose a new route to this "essential amphetamine". 

Economic Market. The spice trade is controlled by many direct elements and responds slowly to supply and demand fluctuations. Resupply depends on growth to plant maturity, which for certain items, such as black pepper or nutmeg, can be several years. The raw material is directly affected by climate, adverse weather conditions, and control of plant diseases and insect and animal pests. Limited agricultural scientific advances are appHed to the cultivation of the botanicals, and there are many grades of product and degrees of quahty caused by different growing or processing conditions, sometimes by unknown factors as well. 

The flavor of nutmeg is pleasant, warm, spicy, and aromatic. Nutmeg is used to flavor baked goods, processed meats, curries, and beverages. 

Exceptions to the simple definition of an essential oil are, for example, gadic oil, onion oil, mustard oil, or sweet birch oils, each of which requires enzymatic release of the volatile components before steam distillation. In addition, the physical process of expression, appHed mostly to citms fmits such as orange, lemon, and lime, yields oils that contain from 2—15% nonvolatile material. Some flowers or resinoids obtained by solvent extraction often contain only a small portion of volatile oil, but nevertheless are called essential oils. Several oils are dry-distiUed and also contain a limited amount of volatiles nonetheless they also are labeled essential oils, eg, labdanum oil and balsam oil Pern. The yield of essential oils from plants varies widely. Eor example, nutmegs yield 10—12 wt % of oil, whereas onions yield less than 0.1% after enzymatic development. 

In 1993, the United States imported nearly 22 x 10 kg of essential oils at a total value of almost 190 x 10 , an increase over 1992 of ca 2.3 X 10 kg and 935,000. Table 1 fists the quantities and values of 35 imported essential oils. The United States exports seven principal essential oils orange, lemon, peppermint, spearmint, cedarwood, clove, and nutmeg. The latter two are not grown in the United States but are imported as dried spice, processed for oil, and then exported. 

Table 46. Comparative Analysis of the Components of Various Nutmeg Oils ...

I. If the trimyristin is not pure white and tree ot nutmeg oil, it will be necessary to purify the resulting acid by distillation... 

Myristic acid occurs as a glyceride in many vegetable fats and oils, in particular in coconut oil,i its isolation from which involves separation from homologs by fractional distillation of the acids or their esters. The trimyristin obtained from nutmegs 2 (p. 100) or from the seeds of Virola venezuelensis forms the most suitable source. 

If the nutmegs be crushed to No. 40 powder, as recommended by the authors, the extraction is complete in twenty-four to forty-eight hours in checking it was found more convenient merely to pass the nutmegs through a food chopper (whereby they were broken up into pieces the largest of which were 3-4 mm. across), when the extraction required sixty-six to seventy-two hours for completion. 

If nutmeg butter, a commercial fat obtained by the hot pressing of ground nutmegs, is available, the above extraction may be omitted. The only operation necessary is a double crystallization of the crude material from boiling 95 per cent alcohol. Since nutmeg butter is frequently adulterated with foreign fats, the purity of the product should be checked by the saponification number (232 for pure trimyristin). 

The nutmeg must first be moistened with ether, otherwise the extraction takes much longer. The author has found this a])])aratus to be generally satisfactory for the extraction of vegetable drugs with volatile solvents. 

The filtrate from the crude trimyristin contains the odorous oils of the nutmeg. A further quantity of trimyristin may be obtained from it by distilling with steam and recrystallizing the non-volatile residue twice from alcohol but the amount is not commensurate with the trouble, and this operation is not advised unless the residues from at least 5000 g. of nutmegs are on hand. 

The alcohol may be distilled from the mother liquor of the recrystallization. The residue from this distillation may be added to the mother liquor of the first crystallization, which is then concentrated to the crystallization point. The crop of crystals thus obtained will usually require double recrystallization. Alcohol recovered from the first mother liquor will contain too much volatile oil of nutmeg to be used for other purposes. 

The only convenient source of trimyristin is nutmegs, and ether is the most suitable solvent for its extraction. It has also been prepared from glycerol and myristic acid. ... 

Iloure-Bertrani Fils- Iiavu examined ihu oil distilled from the Ihjchurv-major Ixuin alone, which they obuiined iu a yield of 2 3 per cent. It has a eharacterisLjc odour of sassafras, with a suggeslion of nutmeg and cloves. Us characters are as follows —... 

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