Essential Oils and Sustainability: In Vitro Bioactivity Screening of Myristica fragrans Houtt. Post-Distillation By-Products

Abstract

The essential oil of Myristica fragrans Hutt. (nutmeg) is an important commodity used as a flavoring agent in the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic fields. Hydrodistillation is chiefly employed at the industrial scale for nutmeg essential oil isolation, but such a technique generates large quantities of post-distillation by-products (e.g., spent plant material and residual distillation water). Therefore, our work aimed to propose a novel strategy for the valorization of nutmeg wastes, with beneficial economic and ecological advantages. Thus, the current study assessed the phytochemical (GC-MS, LC-HRMS/MS) and biological (antioxidant, enzyme inhibitory, antimicrobial) profile of nutmeg crude materials (essential oil and total extract) and post-distillation by-products (residual water and spent material extract). Identified in these were 43 volatile compounds, with sabinene (21.71%), α-pinene (15.81%), myristicin (13.39%), and β-pinene (12.70%) as the main constituents. LC-HRMS/MS analysis of the nutmeg extracts noted fifteen metabolites (e.g., organic acids, flavonoids, phenolic acids, lignans, and diarylnonanoids). Among the investigated nutmeg samples, the spent material extract was highlighted as an important source of bioactive compounds, with a total phenolic and flavonoid content of 63.31 ± 0.72 mg GAE/g and 8.31 ± 0.06 mg RE/g, respectively. Moreover, it showed prominent radical-scavenging and metal-reducing properties and significantly inhibited butyrylcholinesterase (4.78 ± 0.03 mg GALAE/g). Further, the spent material extract displayed strong antimicrobial effects against Streptococcus pneumoniae, Micrococcus luteus, and Bacillus cereus (minimum inhibitory concentrations of 62.5 mg/L). Overall, our study brings evidence on the health-promoting (antioxidant, anti-enzymatic, antimicrobial) potential of nutmeg post-distillation by-products with future reference to their valorization in the pharmaceutical, cosmeceutical, and food industries.

Assessment of Antioxidant and Antibacterial Potential of Phenolic Extracts from Post-Distillation Solid Residues of Oregano, Rosemary, Sage, Lemon Balm, and Spearmint

“…More specifically, the predominant identified compounds in all the SR extracts were rosmarinic acid (peak 22), followed by salvianolic acid isomers (peaks 9,15,17,20,23,25,26,28,31,32). The Greek sage and rosemary extracts were distinguished by the presence of rosmanol isomers (peaks 37,38,39,43).…”

“…In this context, most of the studies mainly focus on the extraction process optimization or extract characterization regarding the total phenolic content and antioxidant activity. On the other hand, few studies have examined the antibacterial effects of post-distillation residual biomass or those of the extracts derived from these materials [27][28][29][30][31]. In fact, to the best of the authors' knowledge, no data are available regarding the post-distillation extracts' antibacterial activity of the four out of five studied Lamiaceae plant materials, rosemary being the exception [27,29].…”

Classification of nutmeg ripeness using artificial intelligence

“…Nutmeg essential oil contains up to 80% trimyristin, and trimyristin is a whitening agent for the skin or whitening agent. Nutmeg, especially nutmeg, is a source of essential oil with high economic value because this part contains around 20% to 40% fixed oil [6].…”

Enrichment of Nutmeg Essential Oil from Oil-in-Water Emulsions with PAN-Based Membranes

“…The essential oil from nutmeg (EON) possesses bactericidal and analgesic properties, making it a valuable resource for treating conditions such as rheumatism, diarrhea, cholera, intestinal diseases, and stomach spasms [5,6]. Moreover, EON is an essential commodity employed as a flavoring agent in the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries [7,8]. Consequently, there is a compelling need to develop efficient methods for obtaining the essential oil.…”