The most important commercial species is Myristica fragrans, an evergreen tree indigenous to the Banda Islands in the Moluccas of Indonesia, or Spice Islands.
The nutmeg tree is important for two spices derived from the fruit, nutmeg and mace.
Nutmeg is the actual seed of the tree, roughly egg-shaped and about 20 to 30 mm long and 15 to 18 mm wide, and weighing between 5 and 10 g dried,
while mace is the dried "lacy" reddish covering or aril of the seed.
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. This is the only tropical fruit that is the source of two different spices.
Several other commercial products are also produced from the trees, including essential oils, extracted oleoresins, and nutmeg butter.
The outer surface of the nutmeg bruises very easily.
Nutmeg butter is obtained from the nut by expression.
It is semi-solid, reddish brown in colour, and tastes and smells of nutmeg.
Approximately 75% of nutmeg butter is trimyristin, which can be turned into myristic acid, a 14-carbon fatty acid, which can be used as a replacement for cocoa butter, can be mixed with other fats like cottonseed oil or palm oil and has applications as an industrial lubricant.
The essential oil is obtained by steam distillation of ground nutmeg, and is used widely in the perfumery and pharmaceutical industries.
This volatile fraction typically contains 60 to 80% d-camphene as well as quantities of d-pinene, limonene, d-borneol, l-terpineol, geraniol, safrol, and myristicin.
The oil is colourless or light yellow, and smells and tastes of nutmeg.
It contains numerous components of interest to the oleochemical industry, and is used as a natural food flavouring in baked goods, syrups, beverages, and sweets.
It is used to replace ground nutmeg, as it leaves no particles in the food.
The essential oil is also used in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries, for instance, in toothpaste, and as a major ingredient in some cough syrups.
In traditional medicine, nutmeg and nutmeg oil were used for disorders related to the nervous and digestive systems.