Botanical species · safety record

Myristica fragrans

The EFSA Compendium of Botanicals holds 5 constituent measurements, 6 adverse-effect records and 2 genotoxicity assays for Myristica fragrans. This page reports what those source records contain and how to reach them. It carries no effect estimate, no dose and no recommendation.

Accepted name in source: Myristica fragrans Houtt.

5Constituent measurements

8Safety records

10Cited sources

108Licensed products (Canada)

Also recorded as

Myristica moschata Thunb.
Myristica officinalis L.f.

Synonyms are carried from the source compendium. A species may be traded and studied under more than one name, which is exactly how a safety record gets lost.

Regulatory presence

Health Canada's Licensed Natural Health Products Database holds 108 licensed products naming Myristica fragrans as a medicinal ingredient, matched on the exact Latin binomial. A licence records that a product met the regulator's requirements for sale in Canada. It is not evidence that the product works.

Extract types on licence

Dry
Fresh

Source material stated

Aril
Dried, usually lime-treated seeds with aril and testa removed
Fruit
Fruit (standardized extract)
Graine
Kernel
Leaf
Myristica fragrans - Seed

What the records describe

Constituents measured

Plant parts

Preparations

Effect types

Target tissues

Recorded constituents

What analytical work has found in this species, at which plant part and preparation. A measured constituent is a fact about material, not about effect.

Substance	Plant part	Preparation	Concentration	Analytical method	Source
Alkaloids	Seed	Solvent extraction	—	Colorimetry, Spectroscopy (Spectrometry) and Photometry	Resolve DOI
Elemicin	Seed	Essential oil	—	—	Resolve DOI
Myristicin	Seed	Solvent extraction	501877.15 Nanogram/gram	GC-MS	Resolve DOI
Myristicin	Seed	Essential oil	—	—	Resolve DOI
Safrole	Seed	Essential oil	—	—	Resolve DOI

Recorded adverse effects

Adverse effects reported in the source literature, most often in animal or laboratory models at a stated preparation and dose.

Effect	Target tissue	Plant part	Preparation	Test organism	Test type	Source
Digestive	Liver	Seed	Drying (dehydration)	House mouse (as animal)	Short-term toxicity	Resolve DOI
Nephrotoxicity	Neurologic: central nervous system	Seed	Drying (dehydration)	Human (as organism)	Case report	Resolve DOI
Neurotoxicity	Neurologic: central nervous system	Seed	Drying (dehydration)	Human (as organism)	Case report	Resolve DOI
Neurotoxicity	Neurologic: central nervous system	Seed	—	Human (as organism)	Case report	Resolve DOI
Neurotoxicity	Neurologic: central nervous system	Fruit unspecified	Solvent extraction	House mouse (as animal)	Acute toxicity	Resolve DOI
Neurotoxicity	Neurologic: central nervous system	Seed	—	Human (as organism)	Case report	No resolvable identifier

Genotoxicity testing

Outcomes of genotoxicity assays as recorded in the source. A negative assay is a result under those test conditions, not a clearance.

Outcome	Endpoint	Test	Tested organism	Metabolic activation	Source
Positive	gene mutation	bacterial gene mutation assay	Salmonella typhimurium (as organism)	Without	Resolve DOI
Positive	DNA damage and/or repair	single cell gel/comet assay in mammalian cells for detection of DNA damage	Other	Not applicable	No resolvable identifier

Cited sources

The literature the compendium cites for this species. Metatron Health has no relationship with these authors or journals and earns nothing from citing them.

Mahmoud, I., Alkofahi, A., Abdelaziz, A. Mutagenic and toxic activities of several spices and some jordanian medicinal plants. Pharmaceutical biology, 1992, vol. 30, no. 2, p. 81-85. DOI
Cinthura, C., Gayathri, R., Priya, V. Genotoxicity analysis of mace (Myristica fragrans) on oral cancer cell line by DNA fragmentation. Journal of pharmaceutical sciences and research, 2017, vol. 9, no. 2, p. 205-207.
Beyer, Jochen., Ehlers, Dorothea., Maurer, Hans H. Abuse of nutmeg (Myristica fragrans Houtt.): Studies on the metabolism and the toxicologic detection of its ingredients elemicin, myristicin, and safrole in rat and human urine using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry . Therapeutic drug monitoring, 2006, vol. 28, no. 4, p. 568-575. DOI
Dawidowicz, Andrzej L., Dybowski, Michal P. Determination of myristicin in commonly spices applying SPE/GC. Food and chemical toxicology, 2012, vol. 50, no. 7, p. 2362-2367. DOI
Hayfaa, A. Al-Shammary., Sahar, A. A. Malik Al-Saadi., Awatif, M. Al-Saeidy. Evaluation of analgesic activity and toxicity of alkaloids in Myristica fragrans seeds in mice . Journal of pain research, 2013, vol. 6, p. 611-615. DOI
Stein, U., Greyer, H., Hentschel, H. Nutmeg (myristicin) poisoning - report on a fatal case and a series of cases recorded by a poison information centre . Forensic science international, 2001, vol. 118, no. 1, p. 87-90. DOI
Roeters van Lennep, J E., Schuit, S C E., van Bruchem-Visser, R L., Ozcan, B. Unintentional nutmeg autointoxication.. The netherlands journal of medicine, 2015, vol. 73, no. 1, p. 46-8.
McKenna, Ann., Nordt, Sean P., Ryan, John. Acute nutmeg poisoning. European journal of emergency medicine, 2004, vol. 11, no. 4, p. 240-241. DOI
Demetriades, AK., Wallman, PD., McGuiness, A., Gavalas, MC. Low cost, high risk: accidental nutmeg intoxication. Emergency medicine journal, 2005, vol. 22, no. 3, p. 223-225. DOI
KUMARI, MVR. MODULATORY INFLUENCES OF MACE (MYRISTICA-FRAGRANS, HOUTT) ON HEPATIC DETOXIFICATION SYSTEMS AND BONE-MARROW GENOTOXICITY IN MALE SWISS ALBINO MICE . Nutrition research, 1992, vol. 12, no. 3, p. 385-394. DOI

Boundary

A constituent measurement is a fact about material at a stated preparation, not a statement about what that material does in a person. An adverse-effect or genotoxicity record is an observation reported in a source, most often in an animal or laboratory model. Neither is a Metatron Health conclusion about causality, human risk or benefit, and the absence of a record is not proof that a preparation is safe. Nothing here is diagnosis, prescribing or individual medical care.

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Independent literature