Why is Nutmeg Expensive?

Why is Nutmeg Expensive?

The significance of Nutmeg was written in 1st century by a Roman writer called Pliny. According to Indian mythology nutmeg was suggested to be used for headaches, fever and bad breath. It is a dry aromatic seed of the tree called Myristica fragrans. The seeds consist of a chemical called Myristicum which has anticholinergic characteristic. This seeds are considered to be risky for fetus. This tree is native of Australasia and tropical regions of Southeast Asia. Fragrant Nutmeg is more common compared to the Papuan Nutmeg and Bombay Nutmeg. Nutmeg is used in cooking and hence was imported to Europe during medieval times by the Arabs. This seed is very famous and expensive. There was a rumour that the nutmeg was able to cure plague and cause self abortions.

Nutmeg started its race in Banda islands of Indonesia. Portuguese invaded Cape of Good Hope in Africa in 1400s and did the nutmeg trading. They transported it in ship and carried the business dealings which were inexpensive. Later, Dutch has taken over the trading of this spice. Nutmeg was available mostly in Run Island. When British invaded the Run Island there was a battle between Dutch and British for the Island. During this war, English people could at last suppress the Dutch and occupied the island.

British started to plant Nutmeg trees all over the island and they had spread the plantation to several places. The production of Nutmeg was so high that it was available to the people at low prices. Recently Nutmeg is produced by many countries like India, Malaysia, New Guinea and Sri Lanka. Thousands of tons are produced annually which is available in the markets of US, Japan, India and Europe. Nutmeg is available in low prices today but was not this case previously. It was quite expensive in older days. It is said that one bag of nutmegs were sufficient to give the possessor enough money to live his rest of the life.