Nutmeg fruit 'momentous moment' for Eden Project

A nutmeg tree that was planted at the Eden Project when it opened in 2001, has produced fruit for the first time.

The project, near St Austell in Cornwall, now hopes to use the fruit to see if more nutmeg trees can be grown from the harvest.

It believes it may be the first time a nutmeg tree in the UK has borne fruit.

Catherine Cutler said: "Seeing our nutmeg tree in fruit for the first time is a momentous occasion for us.

"Our research points to Eden being the only garden in the UK to achieve this, but we'd be fascinated to hear from anyone who may have managed to coax a nutmeg tree to produce fruit."

There are currently about 20 nutmegs on the tree, that can be seen by visitors to the Rainforest biome at the attraction.

Nutmeg trees must be sown almost immediately, require humid conditions and temperatures of between 25C and 30C.

The fruit provides two types of spice; nutmeg from the inner seed and mace from the red covering that forms a lattice around the nutmeg seed.

It is native to the Banda archipelago of islands in Indonesia, known as the Spice Islands, with Grenada in the Caribbean being the second largest producer.

Ms Cutler added: "We're excited to see if we can successfully grow more nutmeg trees from this season's harvest, possibly allowing us to provide productive plants to other botanic gardens.

"There are currently around 20 nutmegs on our tree and we're hopeful that the tree will now produce them every year."

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