• Seed of an evergreen tree (Myristica fragrance) native to the Molucca Islands (Spice Islands) of Indonesia.

• Cultivated in groves.

• Moist air & light volcanic soil required

• Found in Indonesia & Grenada

• Nutmegs can be found among 2 of the 7 Banda Islands, part of the Moluccas group (islands of Eastern Indonesia, once known as the Spice Islands).

Culinary

• Nutmeg and mace are used to flavor bakery, meat and fish dishes, sauces and vegetables, and in preserving and pickling.

Medicinal

• In the Hindu Pharmaceutical it claims to treat fever, asthma and heart disease. Arabs have used it for digestive disorders, kidney disease and lymphatic ailments.

Other Uses

• Used in perfumery, soaps and shampoos. Nutmeg seed oil, which consists of pinene and camphene, is used in perfume.

• Has a protective layer around it, an arillus, which can be dried and sold as mace (another spice/herb).

• When taken in large amounts, nutmegs has the same chemical equivalent as ecstasy, a drug!

• Pregnant women should not take a significant amount of nutmeg as it is an abortifacient (A substance or device that causes abortion), induces labour.

• Nutmeg was traded by Arabs during the Middle Ages in the profitable Indian Ocean trade

• Network of sea lanes connecting Europe, India and Eastern Asia for over 2,000 years.

• Precious spices of South East Asia gave its name.