Development of Advance Extraction Methods for the Extraction of Myristicin from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Myristica fragrans</Emphasis>

Myristicin in a psychoactive, hallucinogenic substance and as a constituent of nutmeg and mace (Myristica fragrans nut and its aril, respectively) is widely available for people seeking so-called legal highs of natural origin. In this work, we present three methods for determination of myristicin from plant material. The methods consist of optimized extraction procedures: microwave-assisted extraction, ultrasound-assisted extraction utilizing ultrasound bath or sonotrode and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis method. The methods were validated: repeatability and intermediate were below 10 % and recovery ranged from 97 to 109 %. The developed methods were then used for determination of myristicin in commercially available nutmeg and mace samples. The concentration ranged from 0.58 to 12.94 μg mg^?1, and the highest concentration of myristicin was observed in samples of those producers, which are often recommended by individuals experimenting with nutmeg. The microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) method has been proven to be the most effective one for the extraction of myristicin from plant material, as it also generates deeper changes in sample structure than UAE techniques. The MAE/GC-MS method was successfully used for nutmeg residue analysis, allowing identification of five characteristic violate constituents of nutmeg.