American Natural & Organic Spices™

More About Nutmeg Oil

Nutmeg is the actual seed of the tree, roughly egg-shaped and about 1 inch long. The first harvest of nutmeg trees takes place 7–9 years after planting, and the trees reach full production after 20 years. Nutmeg is usually used in powdered form. Nutmeg is the only tropical fruit that is the source of two different spices.

Essential oils are commonly defined by the fact that they convey characteristic fragrances. Essential oils are generally extracted by distillation. They are used in perfumes, cosmetics, soaps and other products, for flavoring food and drink, and for adding scents to incense and household cleaning products. Interest in essential oils has revived in recent decades with the popularity of aromatherapy, a branch of alternative medicine that claims that essential oils and other aromatic compounds have curative effects. Oils are volatilized or diluted in a carrier oil and used in massage, diffused in the air by a nebulizer, heated over a candle flame, or burned as incense.

The techniques and methods used to produce essential oils was first mentioned by Ibn al-Baitar (1188–1248), an Andalusian physician, pharmacist and chemist.