Compositional variation in the leaf, mace, kernel, and seed essential oil of nutmeg (<i>Myristica fragrans</i> Houtt.) from the Western Ghats, India
Kaliyaperumal Ashokkumar, S. Vellaikumar, Muthusamy Murugan, M. K. Dhanya, S Aiswarya
Abstract
Houtt. growing in the Western Ghats, India was investigated for the first time. The EO was extracted by hydrodistillation and analysed by GC-MS. The results revealed that yields of EO were 3.16%, 8.10%, 6.24%, and 5.21% for leaf, mace, kernel, and seed, respectively. The main fractions were found to be monoterpenes (53.77%-94.82%), phenylpropenes (1.96%-28.61%), and sesquiterpenes (1.21%-16.76%) and for all the four parts. The main constituents of leaf were sabinene (17.17%), eugenol (16.60%), myristicin (9.12%), caryophyllene (8.82%), and β-myrcene (4.74%). Sabinene (38.37%), α-pinene (8.16%), β-pinene (7.61%), D-limonene (7.07%), and 3-carene (5.05%) were predominant constituents of mace. The major constituents of kernel and seed were sabinene, α-pinene, β-pinene, and D-limonene. The major constituents of leaf, mace, kernel and seed of nutmeg can be utilised in the food, perfumery, aroma and pharmaceutical industries.