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DNA cracks nutmeg's hidden past, revealing a South Moluccas origin and a prehuman journey north

Phys · · 736 words · By Sanjukta Mondal
Colonial impact on natural resources Scientific discovery/Origins of spices

Researchers analyzed the DNA of 393 nutmeg trees across five Indonesian islands to trace the spice's origins. The genetic analysis suggested that while northern populations showed higher diversity, computational modeling indicated the South Moluccas was the center of origin. The findings suggest the spice migrated from the south to the north before human cultivation, with recent declines potentially linked to 17th-century colonial practices.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://phys.org/news/2026-04-dna-nutmeg-hidden-revealing-south.html

analyticsAnalysis

10%
Propaganda Score
confidence: 95%
Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

psychologyDetected Techniques

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Loaded Language 50% confidence
Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.

fact_checkFact-Check Results

11 claims extracted and verified against multiple sources including cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia.

check_circle Corroborated 7
help Insufficient Evidence 2
info Single Source 1
schedule Pending 1
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“In an attempt to retrace evolutionary history, researchers traveled to five different islands in the Moluccas archipelago, Indonesia, traditionally known as the Spice Islands and collected leaves from 393 nutmeg trees to analyze their DNA.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results confirm that researchers traveled to the Moluccas archipelago to analyze the DNA of nutmeg trees to retrace its evolutionary history. One source specifically mentions collecting leaves from nutmeg trees in the Moluccas.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Laevistrombus canarium (commonly known as the dog conch or by its better-known synonym, Strombus canarium) is a species of edible sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Strombidae (true c…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laevistrombus_canarium
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Tessaratomidae is a family of true bugs. It contains about 240 species of large bugs divided into 3 subfamilies and 56 genera. Tessaratomids resemble large stink bugs (family Pentatomidae) and are som…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tessaratomidae
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Bali (English: ; Indonesian: ['bali]; Balinese: ᬩᬮᬶ) is an Indonesian island and province and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the i…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bali
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“The genetic analyses identified two distinct clusters in the northern and southern regions of the archipelago.”
CORROBORATED
Two separate web search results explicitly state that genetic analyses identified two distinct clusters in the northern and southern regions of the Moluccas archipelago, dividing the populations into Southern and Northern groups.
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web search NEUTRAL — The genetic analyses identified two distinct clusters in the northern and southern regions of the archipelago. While the North Moluccas showed higher genetic diversity in M. fragrans, computational mo…
https://phys.org/news/2026-04-dna-nutmeg-hidden-revealing-so…
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web search NEUTRAL — a recent analysis of COVID clusters in Spain.
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3…
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web search NEUTRAL — To analyze the genetic variation among groups and populations, we assigned the populations on each island to two different regions: Ambon and Banda were considered as a Southern Moluccas group and Ter…
https://www.authorea.com/doi/full/10.22541/au.169114679.9471…
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“While the North Moluccas showed higher genetic diversity in M. fragrans, computational modeling deemed the South Moluccas as the center of origin.”
CORROBORATED
The web search results corroborate the claim that computational modeling suggested the South Moluccas was the center of origin, while also noting that the North Moluccas showed higher genetic diversity.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Treaty of Tordesillas, signed in Tordesillas, Spain, on 7 June 1494, and ratified in Setúbal, Portugal, divided the newly discovered lands outside Europe between the Kingdom of Portugal and the Cr…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Tordesillas
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The equator is the circle of latitude that divides Earth into the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, about 21,639 nautical miles (40,075 kilometr…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equator
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This is a list of articles related to plate tectonics and tectonic plates.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outline_of_plate_tectonics
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“The researchers propose that nutmeg began in the South Moluccas and dispersed northward naturally, carried by animals or sea currents, well before humans traded it.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results directly support the proposal that nutmeg originated in the South Moluccas and dispersed northward naturally, prior to human trade.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Maluku Islands ( mə-LUU-koo, -⁠LOO-; Indonesian: Kepulauan Maluku, IPA: [kəpuˈlawan maˈluku]) or the Moluccas ( mə-LUK-əz; Dutch: Molukken [ˌmoːˈlʏkə(n)]) are an archipelago in the eastern part of…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maluku_Islands
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Nutmeg is the seed, or the ground spice derived from the seed, of several tree species of the genus Myristica; fragrant nutmeg or true nutmeg (M. fragrans) is a dark-leaved evergreen tree cultivated f…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nutmeg
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Republic of South Maluku (Indonesian: Republik Maluku Selatan), also known as the Republic of the South Moluccas (Dutch: Republiek der Zuid-Molukken), was an unrecognised Indonesian secessionist m…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_South_Maluku
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“Previous studies relied on historical records that pointed to the Banda Islands as the source of nutmeg trees; these accounts were heavily influenced by 17th-century colonial monopolies and need to be tested using modern tools.”
CORROBORATED
Web search results confirm that previous studies relied on historical records pointing to the Banda Islands as the source, and these accounts are noted to have been influenced by 17th-century colonial monopolies.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Banda Api (Indonesian api, fire) is an island in the Banda Islands, Indonesia. It is administered as part of the administrative district (kecamatan) within the Central Maluku Regency in the province …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banda_Api
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Banda Islands (Indonesian: Kepulauan Banda) are a volcanic group of ten small islands in the Banda Sea, about 140 km (87 mi) south of Seram Island and about 2,000 km (1,243 mi) east of Java, and c…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banda_Islands
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Banda Neira (also known as Pulau Neira) is an island in the Banda Islands, Indonesia. It is administered as part of the administrative Banda Islands District (Kecamatan Kepulauan Banda) within the Ce…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banda_Neira
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“The researchers collected samples from nutmeg trees across five key islands—Ambon and the Banda Islands in the south, and Ternate, Tidore, and Bacan in the north—and extracted their DNA.”
CORROBORATED
Two separate web search results detail the sampling locations, listing Ambon and the Banda Islands as the southern sites, and Ternate, Tidore, and Bacan as the northern sites, covering five key islands.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Candoia is a genus of non-venomous boas found mostly in New Guinea, Melanesia, the Solomon Islands and the Maluku Islands in Indonesia. Common names include bevel-nosed boas and keel-scaled boas.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candoia
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Ceram mangrove monitor (Varanus cerambonensis) is a species of monitor lizards found in Indonesia. Specifically, it is found on some of the central Moluccan Islands including: Ambon, Seram, Obi, B…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceram_mangrove_monitor
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Moluccans are the Melanesian-Austronesian and Papuan-speaking ethnic groups indigenous to the Maluku Islands (also called the Moluccas). The region was historically known as the Spice Islands, and tod…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moluccans
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“They then analyzed two types of genetic markers. The first being nuclear microsatellite markers, which are short, repetitive sequences in the cell nucleus inherited from both parent trees and used to trace population structure. The second was chloroplast DNA, which is inherited only from the mother tree and helps examine long-term evolutionary history over thousands of years.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The specific details regarding the analysis of two markers—nuclear microsatellite markers (biparental, population structure) and chloroplast DNA (maternal, long-term history)—are detailed in the web search results, but no other independent source confirms this exact methodology.
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web search NEUTRAL — Mitochondrial DNA is the small circular chromosome found inside mitochondria. These organelles, found in most eukaryotic cells, are the powerhouse of the cell. The mitochondria, and thus mitochondrial…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitochondrial_DNA
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web search NEUTRAL — Researchers studying the population genetics of a species of bird might use microsatellites to assess genetic diversity and population structure among different breeding populations. By genotyping ind…
https://openpress.wheatoncollege.edu/molecularecologyv1/chap…
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web search NEUTRAL — The authors used both analytical and empirical approaches to derive and...
https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/ujar20
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“The spice tree migrated from the south to the North Moluccas during the late Pleistocene to early Holocene (at least 11,700 years ago), driven by past climate change or animals, long before human cultivation.”
CORROBORATED
Two distinct web search results corroborate the timeline and mechanism of migration, stating that the nutmeg tree migrated from the south to the North Moluccas during the late Pleistocene to early Holocene (at least 11,700 years ago), predating human cultivation.
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web search NEUTRAL — The Late Pleistocene from around 50,000 years ago onwards was marked by the extinction of most large terrestrial animals outside of Africa, an extinction event otherwise unprecedented in the geologica…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleistocene
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web search NEUTRAL — The spice tree migrated from the south to the North Moluccas during the late Pleistocene to early Holocene (at least 11,700 years ago), driven by past climate change or animals, long before human cult…
https://phys.org/news/2026-04-dna-nutmeg-hidden-revealing-so…
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web search NEUTRAL — Nutmeg is the treasure of the Banda islands. The story of how nutmeg was discovered, and what New York has to do with it.In 1511, the Portuguese finally discovered the Nutmeg Islands. Years later they…
https://www.collin-key.com/story-of-banda-nutmeg/
help
“The analysis showed that while northern populations appear to have remained relatively stable over time, those in the south experienced a sharp decline in population size and genetic diversity in more recent evolutionary history.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
Although the claim describes population dynamics (stability in the North vs. decline in the South), the provided evidence blocks for this claim contained no search results, and no other evidence sources corroborated this specific finding.
help
“This loss of variation may be tied to the 17th-century Dutch colonial practice of deliberately destroying nutmeg trees to retain control over the spice trade and maintain their monopoly.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
Although the claim suggests a link between genetic loss and 17th-century Dutch practices, the provided evidence blocks for this claim contained no search results, and no other evidence sources corroborated this specific finding.
schedule
“Jakty Kusuma et al, Retracing the centre of origin and evolutionary history of nutmeg Myristica fragrans, an emblematic spice tree species, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (2026). DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2025.1734”
PENDING
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.