Description
Evergreen tree 15 to 20 m (49 to 66 ft.) in height; grows in Java,
Sumatra, Borneo, Penang, Moluccas, and in several other islands
of the Indian Ocean. It has alternate leaves and dioecious flowers.
Consequently, only female trees bear nuts; male plants are interdispersed
in the groves only to ensure pollination. The ripe fruits
are yellow-red with a fleshy pericarp; the red arillode is tightly
wrapped around a woody hull containing the seed.
Note: Mace designates the dried arillodes of nutmeg. The ratio of
nutmegs to mace is approximately 10:1. Nutmeg and mace yield
different, but sometimes similar, products.
The parts used are the nuts (free of the outer pulp) and arillodes
(decolorized with lime). The most commercially important qualities
of nutmeg and mace follow:
? Banda nutmeg and Banda mace contain 8% and 13% essential
oil, respectively;
? Java nutmeg and Java mace contain 6.5% and 11% essential
oil, respectively; and
? Siauw nutmeg and Siauw mace contain 6.5% and 10 to 12%
essential oil, respectively.
These qualities are further subdivided according to size-large,
medium, and small-for extraction and according to appearance-
whole, worm-eaten, etc.
Chemical Properties
The oil is obtained by steam distillation of dried comminuted nutmeg previously treated by hydraulic expression to
remove fixed oils; yields are approximately 12%. The hot expression of nutmeg yields a fatty oil with a melting point of about 45°C.
Two types of oils, the East Indian and West Indian, are commercially available. The oil exhibits a characteristic nutmeg odor.
Physical properties
Nutmeg essential oil is a colorless to pale-yellow liquid. It is soluble in alcohol.
Occurrence
Found in the fruit of Myristica fragrans Houtt. (Fam. Myristicaceae) (Gildemeister & Hoffman, 1956; Guenther, 1952).
Uses
Ground nutmeg remains a popular spice in home kitchens,
used to flavor holiday staples such as pumpkin pie and eggnog.
The seed has a red, lacy covering that is dried to form mace,
a spice with similar flavor to nutmeg but without toxicity. The
essential oil of nutmeg is extracted for commercial culinary use.
The seed can also be crushed into a butter, which is used as an
industrial lubricant. There is no Food and Drug Administration
approved medical use for nutmeg, although it is sometimes
used as a herbal remedy for arthritis, diarrhea, flatulence, and
gastrointestinal complaints. Nutmeg is abused for its hallucinogenic
properties, most commonly by adolescent males.
Uses
As a cooking spice, flavoring in food and beverages. Nutmeg oil as fragrance in soaps, detergents, creams, lotions, perfumes. Fixed oil in candles.
Definition
Extractives and their physically modified derivatives. Myristica fragrans, Myristicaceae.
Preparation
By steam distillation of the dried nutmeg (Guenther, 1952).
Essential oil composition
The oil contains α- and γ-pinene, camphene, dipentene, p-cymene, d-linalool, terpineol, geraniol, safrole,
eugenol and isoeugenol.
Pharmacology
The principal pharmacologically active component of nutmeg, myristicin, caused
ataxia and disorientation in monkeys and enhanced morphine-induced rage in cats (Truitt et al
1961). Doses of 400 mg on alternate days produced in normal volunteers some evidence of slight
euphoria, but none resembling the symptoms of excitation seen in acute nutmeg poisoning (Truitt
et al 1961).
Safety Profile
Moderately toxic by
ingestion. Low toxicity by skin contact. An
experimental teratogen. Experimental
reproductive effects. Mutation data
reported. A skin irritant. When heated to
decomposition it emits acrid smoke and
irritating fumes.
Metabolism
Nutmeg demonstrates a mild degree of monoamine oxidase (MAO)-inhibiting activity in vitro and in vivo (Truitt, 1967; Truitt & Ebersberger, 1962). In a test based on interference with tryptamine metabolism, nutmeg was shown to possess a weak enzyme-inhibitory action, but inhibition by myristicin was approximately one third as powerful as that of iproniazid, a well known antidepressant of this class (Truitt & Ebersberger, 1962). When oral doses of 0.2 or 1.0 g/kg nutmeg powder (as an acacia suspension) were given to mice and rats, the onset of the inhibiting action was first noted 17-24 hr after feeding as a lowering of the convulsive threshold in mice following iv injection of tryptamine. In rats, after the tryptamine injection, the MAO inhibition took the form of an increase in concentration of 5-hydroxytryptamine in the brain (Truitt, Duritz & Ebersberger, 1963).
Toxicity evaluation
The mechanism of toxicity remains elusive. An early hypothesis
hinged on the similarity of nutmeg’s aromatic compounds to
amphetamine-like compounds, suggesting amination/transamination
by hepatic pathways. Myristicin has some similarity
to methylenedioxyamphetamine and elemicin is similar to
mescaline. However, the required pathway for this transformation
is not known to exist in humans. Some components
of nutmeg have similarity to serotonin agonists, and others
appear to have weak monoamine oxidase-inhibiting ability.
Further studies are needed.
