Securing Our Future: A Sustainable Approach to the Nutritional Potential of Nutmeg Rind through Vacuum Impregnation

Abstract

Vacuum impregnation (VI) is used to create novel food formulations by impregnating new nutritive compounds into natural food matrices. Nutmeg rind or pericarp, is an underutilised fruit spice despite having high nutritional and therapeutic properties. The limited number of scientific studies on the value addition of nutmeg rind is the major cause for its lack of popularity. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to optimize the process conditions for the development of vacuum impregnated nutmeg rind candy. Process variables were syrup temperature (50-70°C), syrup concentration (60-80° Brix) and duration of VI (10-20) min. The optimal conditions for the product were 66.81°C for syrup temperature, 71.58°Brix for syrup concentration and 11.59 min for the duration of VI. The water loss, sugar gain, chewiness and lightness values of the optimized candy were found to be 50.00%, 12.23%, 9N and 22.17 respectively. The predicted values using the developed model were validated with experimental data and indicated the adequacy of the generated model. The functional characterization of the optimized nutmeg rind candy revealed a significant reduction (57.28%) in myristicin content due to VI, making the product safer for consumption. This technology supports the ‘wealth from waste’ initiative, providing an additional revenue stream for nutmeg growers. In addition to this, in vitro anti-bacterial assay and biochemical assays like polyphenol content, flavonoid content, tannin content, anti-oxidant potential, proximate composition and microstructure of the optimized sample were analyzed. Entrepreneurs may also find this technological advancement valuable as it offers a streamlined process for producing high-quality nutmeg rind candy, opening doors for product diversification and market expansion.