All about Nutmeg > Cultivation

 Family: Myristicaceae

Climate: hot, humid, tropical

Cultivation: perennial

Height: the nutmeg tree can reach a height of 20 m, but it is usually between 8 and 12 m.

The nutmeg tree is a perpetual tree that grows on tropical islands. It is now found in Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Sumatra and the leeward West Indies.

The nutmeg tree has a rounded top. Its persistent leaves have an attractive shiny green top, while underneath the colour tends towards a greyish-green. They are oval, lanceolate and about 10 cm long, resembling the leaves of a rhododendron.

Amidst this foliage grow bunches of little pale yellow bell flowers. The male flowers differ from the female, but both have a pleasant scent. The only way of determining whether a tree is male or female is by its flowers. A male tree can fertilize 10 female trees though there exist, as with a few other species of trees, some bisexual elements.

The round fruit looks like an apricot or a peach of a pale yellowish colour streaked with red and green. Once it reaches maturity, it splits open into two white-fleshed halves to reveal a somewhat ovoid, bright scarlet nut.

Growing Nutmeg
Nutmeg is grown in valleys from sea level to an altitude of 500 m.

It is propagated by means of seeds. Its germination period is 6 weeks and the seedling is then transplanted into the ground.

It takes seven years to obtain the first harvest. The older the tree is, the more productive it is and it reaches its full yield when between 15 and 30 years old.

Harvest
One tree can produce 5 kg of nutmeg and 1 kg of mace.

Inside the fruit is a brown, almost round nut that is dense, oily and hard, protected by a thin woody membrane called the aril. It is this tegument that envelops the nutmeg seed. This fleshy skin, sometimes called the "flower of nutmeg," is composed of a web of fibres whose colour often denotes its origin: flowers of a bright scarlet, brown or orangey red come from Indonesia; when they are pale, orangey yellow, or beige they come from the island of Grenada.

Drying
The aril is dried in the sun for a week or two and takes on a yellowish brown colour. It is then flattened and prepared to produce mace which is then sold in strips, small pieces, or ground.

The nut is dried in the sun until the nutmeg in the centre produces a rattling sound, which can take from one to two months. Then the pit is broken with a stick or more sophisticated equipment. The nutmeg inside is 2 to 3 cm long and 15 to 18 mm in diameter. It is immediately dipped into a lime-based solution to prevent it from being damaged by insects. The Dutch also used this lime treatment to sterilize the nutmeg they exported as we noted in the history of nutmeg.

Nutmegs of lesser quality are sent to the presser to extract an oil used in food and perfume industries. The oil is also sold for medicinal purposes since one or two drops in a glass of hot milk brings out its sedative properties.