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Section VII - Utilization of products
The large quantity and variety of aromatic compounds in the kernel and aril of the nutmeg fruit, compounds essential in the defense mechanism of the plant, have led to the historic and continued use of nutmeg and mace as spices. Thus they are widely used for their flavouring characteristics in the Food industry. Products of nutmeg and mace in the form of oleoresins, butter and essential oil also find application in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries.
Table 11 lists the product form used and the most important uses of the various forms of nutmeg.
Table 12 lists the product form used and the most important uses of the various forms of mace.
In Grenada both nutmeg and mace are utilized as spices especially in baking products, dairy products and alcoholic beverages. In the distinctive tasting Grenadian rum punch, nutmeg is obligatory and local nutmeg ice cream is unmistakedly tasty. Mace is particularly used for seasoning sea foods. Ground nutmeg mixed with "soft candle" or petroleum jelly is warmed and use as a balm. Similarly the oil diluted is used to massage sore muscles and aching joints. A highly underutilized by-product of the nutmeg industry is the ripe open pods of the fruit. Locally the pods are utilized and processed into jams, jellies, syrups, preserved in syrup, "cheese" and candied pods. The cracked shells are utilized as fuel, for spreading on walks or the floor of nurseries or green houses and as mulch in the field. In the far east it has been mentioned that the pods are cooked as a sweet meat; sliced, salted and cooked in rice dishes. The residue left after the extraction of fixed oil, is mixed with chopped pods, wrapped with a layer of earth and then covered up with banana leaves and on this mixture the edible mushroom Soletus moschocarganus is cultivated.
Almost worldwide man has been using nutmeg and mace for a range of ethnomedical reasons. Weil (1965) concluded that the seeds and arils of M. fragrans have powerful narcotic properties. Green (1959), Smith (1902) and Alexander (1887) have all written on poisoning to humans who ingested a reasonable quantity of nutmeg. Table 13 lists a range of ethomedical uses from various countries.
TABLE 11. NUTMEG UTILIZATION
| Product Form used: | WHOLE |
| GROUND | |
| OLEORESINS | |
| BUTTER | |
| OIL (essential) | |
| Whole, Ground: | Domestic culinary use |
| Ground: | Industrial use for flavouring |
| Foods | |
| Meat products, sausages, frank furlers, boloyna, soups, prepared sauces, ketchup. | |
| Dairy products: egg nog, ice cream, milk pudding | |
| Alcoholic Beverages: Rum punch | |
| Toddy | |
| Baking Products: Cakes, cookies or sulfide rich foods, cabbage etc. | |
| Oleoresins: | Extracted with non-polar solvent (Flavouring processed Foods) |
| Extracted with polar solvent "Absolute of Nutmeg" - alcoholic extract used in old fashion oriental perfumes | |
| Butter: | Pharmaceutical purposes: ointments, shampoos, hand lotion, soaps, plasters, candles, fatty acid derivatives |
| Oil (essential): | Cosmetic industry: perfumes, male fragrances, after-shave lotions |
| Food and Drink Industry- Meats, syrup, candies, | |
| Liqueur, coco-cola. | |
| Pharmaceutical Industry - vicks rub, cough syrups, breathing tissues, herbal balms, dental creams. | |
| Most importers distill their own essential oil for the cosmetics industry. |
TABLE 12. MACE UTILIZATION
| Product Form used: | WHOLE |
| GROUND (keeps better than ground nutmeg because of negligible fixed oil) | |
| OLEORESINS | |
| OIL (Essential) | |
| Whole and Ground: | Domestic culinary use |
| Ground: | Industrial culinary use as flavouring: sweet foods, cakes, doughnuts, fruit pies |
| Dairy products: egg nog, milk pudding. | |
| Cigarettes | |
| Chewed to mask foul breath | |
| Oil (Essential): | Special extract used in perfumes, scented soaps, denture and chewing gum. |
| Oleoresins: | Flavouring processed foods and baking products. |
TABLE 13. ETHNOMEDICAL INFORMATION ON Myristica fragrans
| APHRODISIAC | Mace | Trinidad | Simpson (1962) |
| ANTIPYRETIC | Mace | Thailand | Mokkhasmit et al., (1971) |
| ABORTIFACIENT | Entire plant | India | Saha et al., (1961) |
| GASTROINTESTINAL AROMATIC | Seed | Mexico | Bye (1986) |
| STIMULANT | Seed | U.S.A | Novitch&Schweiker(1982) |
| APHRODISIAC NARCOTIC | Seed | Africa | Garbari (1913) |
| PROPERTIES | Seed | India | Power & Salway (1908) |
| CARMINATIVE | Seed | India | Arseculeratne (1985) |
| DIGESTIVE | Seed | India | Power & Salway (1908) |
| EXPECTORANT | Seed | India | Arseculeratne (1985) |