[2][3] If consumed in amounts exceeding its typical use as a spice, nutmeg powder may produce allergic reactions, cause contact dermatitis, or have psychoactive effects.

[4] Conifers of the genus Torreya, commonly known as the nutmeg yews, have edible seeds of similar appearance, but are not closely related to M. fragrans, and are not used as a spice.

The spice has a distinctive pungent fragrance and a warm, slightly sweet taste; it is used to flavor many kinds of baked goods, confections, puddings, potatoes, meats, sausages, sauces, vegetables, and such beverages as eggnog.

[8] In the processing of mace, the crimson-colored aril is removed from the nutmeg seed that it envelops and is flattened out and dried for 10 to 14 days.

[9] The most important commercial species is the common, true or fragrant nutmeg, M. fragrans (Myristicaceae), native to the Moluccas (or Spice Islands) of Indonesia.

[10][11] It is also cultivated on Penang Island in Malaysia, in the Caribbean, especially in Grenada, and in Kerala, a state formerly known as Malabar in ancient writings as the hub of spice trading, in southern India.

In the 17th-century work Hortus Botanicus Malabaricus, Hendrik van Rheede records that Indians learned the usage of nutmeg from the Indonesians through ancient trade routes.

In Kerala Malabar region, grated nutmeg is used in meat preparations and also sparingly added to desserts for the flavour.

[16] In traditional European cuisine, nutmeg and mace are used especially in potato and spinach dishes and in processed meat products; they are also used in soups, sauces, and baked goods.

In Italian cuisine, nutmeg is used as part of the stuffing for many regional meat-filled dumplings like tortellini, as well as for the traditional meatloaf.

The volatile fraction contains dozens of terpenes and phenylpropanoids, including D-pinene, limonene, D-borneol, L-terpineol, geraniol, safrole, and myristicin.

In August 1511, Afonso de Albuquerque conquered Malacca, which at the time was the hub of Asian trade, on behalf of the king of Portugal.

In November of the same year, after having secured Malacca and learning of Banda's location, Albuquerque sent an expedition of three ships led by his friend António de Abreu to find it.

An early account of Banda is in Suma Oriental, a book written by the Portuguese apothecary Tomé Pires, based in Malacca from 1512 to 1515.

[citation needed] In order to obtain a monopoly on the production and trade of nutmeg, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) waged a bloody battle with the Bandanese in 1621.

Historian Willard Hanna estimated that before this struggle the islands were populated by approximately 15,000 people, and only 1,000 were left (the Bandanese were killed, starved while fleeing, exiled, or sold as slaves).

[28][29] This narrative may have to do with the issue that one has to grate to obtain the spice powder, not crack a nutmeg, and this may not have been widely known by some purchasers of the product.

[20][32] Myristicin—a monoamine oxidase inhibitor and psychoactive substance[4][20]—can cause convulsions, palpitations, nausea, eventual dehydration, and generalized body pain when consumed in large amounts.

[4][31] Nutmeg may interact with anxiolytic drugs, produce allergic reactions, cause contact dermatitis, and evoke acute episodes of psychosis.

[20] It is used recreationally with the intention of achieving a low-cost high resembling psychedelics, particularly by adolescents, drug users, college students, and prisoners.