Myristica Fragrans [Nutmeg]: Taxonomy Phytoch...

Myristica Fragrans [Nutmeg]: Taxonomy Phytochemistry, Medicinal Uses and Pharmacology

Author Name : Rutuja Vinayak Bagal, Sonali Vinod Uppalwar

ABSTRACT Myristica fragrans, sometimes known as mace or nutmeg, is a member of the Myristicaceae family. It is an aromatic evergreen tree with spreading branches that bears golden, juicy fruits that resemble peaches or apricots. The essential oil of Myristica fragrans possesses antibacterial, antiseptic, antiparasitic, antiinflammatory, and antioxidant characteristics. We recently showed that using magnesium aluminometasilicate as an excipient during the hydro distillation of nutmeg essential oil greatly enhances the volume and content of bioactive compounds in the oil and hydrolats. In this work, we compared the anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and antioxidant properties of hydrolats and essential oil that was generated using hydro distillation with and without magnesium aluminometasilicate acting as an excipient. Grenada and Trinidad, two Caribbean islands, have a significant impact on the commercial cultivation of this aromatic tree. It comes from the Myristicaceae family, which also produces mace (Javitri) and nutmeg (Jaiphal). Mace is the fleshy red, net-like skin covering (aril) on the nutmeg seed kernel, which is found inside the fruit. Additionally, investigations reveal the presence of many chemical components, such as myristicin, lignan, and eugenol (4-allyl-2-methoxyphenol). The pharmacological properties of nutmeg include hepatoprotective, anti-oxidant, memory-enhancing, cytotoxic, aphrodisiac, anti-diabetic, anti-depressant, hypolipidemic and hypocholesterolemic effects, anti-microbial, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, anti-carcinogenic, flavouring, and pesticidal properties. The pharmacological characteristics of this medicinal plant are reviewed in this article.