Comparative Analysis of Essential Oils and Oleoresins From Seed and Aril of Myristica fragrans Houtt.: Chemical Composition, Antioxidant, Anti‐Inflammatory, and Cytotoxic Activities

This study explores the antioxidant, anti‐inflammatory, and cytotoxic properties of Myristica fragrans Houtt. from derived nutmeg (seed) and mace (aril) essential oils and ethanolic oleoresins extracted by hydrodistillation and Soxhlet extraction methods, respectively. Chemical profiling using GC–MS/FID identified α ‐terpineol (22.70%) in nutmeg essential oil, β ‐phellandrene (14.14%) in mace essential oil, diethyl phthalate (11.07%) in nutmeg oleoresin, and 4‐carvomenthenol (12.40%) in mace oleoresin as major constituents. Antioxidant activity, evaluated through DPPH, ABTS, NO, FRAP, and metal chelation assays, showed oleoresins, particularly mace oleoresin, to be more potent than essential oils. Mace oleoresin exhibited the strongest anti‐hemolytic effect (IC 50 : 165.11 µgmL −1 ). Anti‐inflammatory assays, i.e., albumin denaturation, protease inhibition, and lipoxygenase inhibition, also confirmed mace oleoresin as the most effective. Cytotoxicity was tested on HT‐29 and LNCaP cancer cell lines using the MTT assay, where mace oleoresin showed dose‐dependent inhibition with IC 50 values of 28.50 µgmL −1 (HT‐29) and 35.50 µg/mL (LNCaP). Its superior bioactivity is attributed to a higher content of oxygenated terpenoids (31.38%), phenylpropanoids (25.73%), and phenolics (12.03%). These findings suggest mace that oleoresin holds promise as a natural alternative to synthetic antioxidant, anti‐inflammatory, and anticancer agents.