Nutmeg

Nutmeg is also a medicinal herb which is used as medicine in order to cure certain kind of diseases. Its scientific name is Myristica Fragrans and its Nepali name is Jaithal. Nutmeg is the seed of the tree, roughly egg-shaped and about 20 to 30 mm (0.8 to 1.2 in) long and 15 to 18 mm (0.6 to 0.7 in) wide, and weighing between 5 and 10 g (0.2 and 0.4 oz) dried, while mace is the dried "lacy" reddish covering of the seed. The first harvest of nutmeg trees takes place 7–9 years after planting, and the trees reach full production after twenty years. Nutmeg is usually used in powdered form. This is the only tropical fruit that is the source of two different spices, obtained from different parts of the plant.

Several other commercial products are also produced from the trees, including essential oils, extracted oleorins, and nutmeg butter.

Nutmeg and mace have similar sensory qualities, with nutmeg having a slightly sweeter and mace a more delicate flavor. Nutmeg rind is also blended (creating a fresh, green, tangy taste and white color juice) or boiled (resulting in a much sweeter and brown juice) to make iced nutmeg juice. The essential oil obtained by steam distillation of ground nutmeg is used widely in the perfumery and  pharmaceutical industries. In low doses, nutmeg produces no noticeable physiological or neurological response, but in large doses, raw nutmeg has  phychoactive effects is one of the side effects of it.

By: Abiral Thapa Magar