Scientific African (Mar 2023)
Assessment of nutritional and medicinal properties of nutmeg
Abstract
The study was aimed at assessing the nutritional and medicinal properties of nutmeg, a seed of Myristica fragrans Houtt. Locally sourced nutmeg in Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria, were analysed for their proximate, minerals, vitamins, phytochemicals and bioactive molecules contents. GC–MS analysis of the essential oil was carried out and drug properties of the identified bioactive molecules were screened computationally, using online Osiris server. The methanolic and ethanolic extracts of nutmeg were screened for their antibacterial activities. Results: The nutmeg samples were found to have high contents of fat (26.7%), protein (18.7%), carbohydrate (28.9%), energy (3938.3 Kcal/Kg) and fibre (9.4%); rich in Ca²⁺, K+, Po₄3⁻, Mg²⁺, Fe²⁺ and ascorbic acid; with low levels of Zn2+, thiamine, niacin and riboflavin. The phytochemical analysis indicated high levels of alkaloids, phytates, tannins, oxalates, flavonoids, terpernoids, antioxidant, with low protease inhibitor, and no detectable cyanogenic glycosides. The GC–MS analysis of the essential oil gave a chromatogram with 33 peaks, and the identified molecules including gamma-Terpinene, Isoborneol, Safrole, Geraniol, (+)-4-Carene, Myristicin and Guaiol among others, and some of these molecules are having excellent drug properties. The multi-drug resistant clinical bacterial isolates and the reference bacteria used in this study were all susceptible to both methanolic and ethanolic extracts of nutmeg, with the methanolic extract showing more significant antibacterial profiles. The present study demonstrated nutmeg as having high nutritional and antibacterial values, with rich content of bioactive molecules that could serve as sources of new therapeutics against drug resistant bacterial infections.
