The nutmeg tree, Myristica fragrans, is unique among the spice plants as it produces two separate and distinct products – the nutmeg which is the kernel of the seed and the mace which is the dried aril that surrounds the single seed within the fruit. It is a spreading evergreen tree, usually dioecious, which is native to the Moluccas in the East Indian Archipelago, belonging to the small primitive family Myristicaceae. Nutmegs reached Europe after cloves.
By 1650 the order had become fairly effective. Most writers comment that the scheme was thwarted by fruit pigeons which swallowed the seeds and voided them on neighbouring islands. The original source of this statement, which has been faithfully copied, is hard to identify, but the story, like the seeds, is rather hard to swallow. It is possible that the spice occurred in regions of the islands unknown to the Dutch, and there was a brisk trade in spices by the natives with Mindanao and Kedah.
In the East, nutmeg is said to have stimulative, carminative, astringent and aphrodisiac properties. The husk or pericarp is made into sweetmeats and jellies in Malaysia. Oil of nutmeg is used for flavouring food products and liqueurs, in perfumery, and for scenting soaps, etc. Nutmeg butter is used as a mild external stimulant. The volatile oil present in both spices contains small amounts of myristicin and elemicin, which are narcotic and poisonous, so that nutmegs and mace should be used sparingly. In recent times powdered nutmeg has been occasionally used as a hallucinogenic drug for ‘kicks’, but such use is dangerous.
The nutmeg is a native of the eastern islands of the Moluccas, notably in Amboina and Ternate, but it is seldom, if ever, found truly wild. Its nearest relative occur in New Guinea. Neither nutmeg nor mace appear to have been known to the ancient Greeks and Romans. There is a record of the spice in Constantinople about A.D. 540 by Aetius and it must have reached India before this time. The Arab traders must have got the spice via entrepots in Java and India. As with other spices, they tried to hide the true source of the spice.
Nutmegs have been introduced into almost every tropical country where climatic conditions are in any way suitable, including India, the Philippines, most West Indian islands, tropical America, and Pacific islands. Today the bulk of the world’s supply comes from Indonesia and Grenada, with a small quantity from Sri Lanka.
Mace is more expensive than nutmegs and this, together with possible scarcity, has led to well-preserved anecdotes, both in British and Dutch colonial circles, of those in power in Europe, unaware that both spices come from the same tree, requesting growers in Indonesia and Grenada to reduce the amount of nutmegs and to increase mace production.
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