The effects of blanching pretreatment and immersion of sodium metabisulfite/citric acid solution on the myristicin content and the quality parameter of nutmeg ( Myristica fragrans ) pericarp

Pickled nutmeg which is made from the osmotic dehydration process is one of the well-known and a trademark delicacy in Penang, Malaysia. Despite of the high demand from the consumers, the toxicant volatile compound of myristicin that is produced along the making process has become the limitation of the pickled nutmeg consumption. Hence, pre-treatments of different blanching period prior to osmotic dehydration process were suggested to mitigate the issue. Analysis of the texture, myristicin content, and alcohol acyltransferase (AAT) activity were undergone to the fresh (control), pretreated nutmeg pericarp, and post-pretreated pickled nutmeg. The nutmeg samples were prepared and subjected to various blanching period (0, 3, 5, 7, and 9 min) at 100 ℃ in distilled water, followed by immersing the samples into sodium metabisulfite/citric acid (SMB/CA) solution for 30 min. Then, the pretreated nutmeg pericarp underwent the osmotic dehydration process by using food grade sodium chloride. The increase in blanching period resulted in the reduction of texture hardness, myristicin content, and AAT activity of the pretreated nutmeg pericarp compared to the control. In overall, 7 min blanching period was preferable, as the myristicin level in nutmeg sample could not be detected and the AAT activity was at its lowest level.