QUALIFICATION OF AMINO ACIDS, FATTY ACIDS AND NUTRITIONAL ELEMENTS OF MYRISTICA FRAGRANS HOUTT. AND ITS PHARMACEUTICAL

Abstract

Jaiphal (Myristica fragrans Houtt. or true nutmeg) is classified botanically as a member of the family ‘Myristicaceae’ which is a dark-leaved tree and it is cultivated for two spices which are derived from its fruit: nutmeg from its seed and mace together forms the seed covering. It is also a marketable basis of an essential oil and butter. It belongs natively to Banda Islands in the Moluccas of Indonesia and is cultivated in Southern India especially in Kerala. The essential oil is manufactured by the process of steam distillation of ground nutmeg which is especially in the perfumery and pharmaceutical industries. Since ages, traditional knowledge of using jaiphal is commonly used for treating of various diseases such as cold and coughs, anti inflammatory anti diabetic etc. In today’s world, like pharmaceutical industry, food industries are also focused on development of substances that naturally contain some health benefits. Thus, the present study was done to investigate the nutritional elements, biochemical compound profiling from the fruit extract of Myristica fragrans Houtt. so that it can be used for various therapeutic effects in pharmaceutical industries. Proximate analysis include moisture content which is 9.2 % ± 2.6 (done in triplicates),total protein content which is estimated to be 4.82 ± 0.26 with total nitrogen content 0.772 %, total amino acid analysis confirmed the presence of nine essential, nine non essential amino acids and seven free amino acids. 30 elements with categories of five macro, eight micro or trace and seventeen ultra trace elements were analyzed which directly or indirectly relates to different disease curing capacities. Surface methodology (SEM) showed smooth and bounded morphology at different angles and resolution and X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies revealed that surface methodology was pure and crystalline to be used for further process. Various functional groups with the range of vi the spectrum from 1016-3460 cm-1 such as phenol with O-H bending at 139.83 cm- , C=N stretch bond of imine, some peaks are also present in the range of 400- 930 cm-1 which could be benzene derivatives, etc. were confirmed from Fourier - transform infra red analysis (FTIR). Further, total fatty acid content analysis reveals the utility of jaiphal that includes various saturated and unsaturated fatty acid. Myristic acid, the major component of jaiphal is highly present is useful in various human purposes too.