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.
Nutmeg (mace) oil is obtained by steam distillation of the seeds (nutmeg)
and/or the seed-coverings (mace) obtained from the fruits of Myristica fragrans
Houtt. (Myristicaceae). The tree grows in Indonesia and in the West Indies and reaches 15–20m of height.
Nutmeg/mace oils are colorless to pale yellow liquids with a pleasant spicy odor.
Thephysical constants and odor vary with the origin. Specifications of Indonesian
nutmeg oil are as follows:
d2020 0.885–0.907; n20D 1.4750–1.4850; α20D +6 ° to +18 °; solubility: 1 vol in 5 vol
of 90% ethanol at 20 °C (solutions sometimes opalescent), for freshly distilled oils, 1 vol in 3–4 vol.
Indonesian oils contain about 90% terpene hydrocarbons, mainly sabinene (14–29%), α-pinene (15–28%), and β-pinene (13–18%).Major oxygen-containing
constituents are 1-terpinen-4-ol (2–6%) and phenol ether derivatives such as myristicin (5–12%).
Nutmeg oil is usedmainly in food flavorings (soft drinks of the cola type) and to
a lesser extent in perfumery. At present, ～350 t/yr are produced in Indonesia and
in smaller quantities in India and Sri Lanka.Grenada, a former important exporter
of nutmeg oil, was not able to produce nutmeg oil in the recent years as result of
the impact of the hurricane in 2004.
Mace oil is obtained by steam distillation of the ground, dried arillode of the ripe nutmeg seed; yields are approxi mately 11%. It exhibits a fresher odor than that of nutmeg oil, but has a great number of components common to nutmeg. Oil of mace
(East and West Indian) has a characteristic odor and flavor of nutmeg.
Mace oil is a colorless to pale-yellow liquid. It is soluble in most fixed oils and in mineral oil. It
is insoluble in glycerin and propylene glycol.
Extractives and their physically modified derivatives. Myristica fragrans, Myristicaceae.
Moderately toxic by ingestion. Askin irritant. Human ingestion causes symptoms similar tovolatile oil of nutmeg. Human systemic effects:arrhythmias, distorted perceptions, hallucinations, toxicpsychosis. When heated to decomposition it emits acridsm
