Jatropha Curcas Plant
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Jatropha curcas
is a drought-resistant shrub or tree
belonging to the genus Euphorbiaceae,
which is cultivated in Central and
South America, South-east Asia, India
and Africa. It is a plant with many
attributes, multiple uses and
considerable potential. The plant can be
used to prevent and control erosion, to
reclaim land and widely grown as hedge
to protect fields from farm animals like
cattle.
It is well adapted
to arid and semi-arid conditions and
will grow under a wide range of rainfall
regimes from 200 to over 1500 mm per
annum. Jatropha Curcas which is
easily grown from seed or cutting can
live up to 50 years and can produce
seeds up to three times per annum.
Like many other Jatropha species
Jatropha Curcas
is a succulent that sheds its leaves
during the dry season.
Jatropha Curcas is
also known as
Purging nut,
Pinhão manso
(Brazil),
Tempate(Caragua),Jarak
(Indonesia),
Mbono
(Tanzania),
Lahong
Kwang (Cambodia),
Cay
Dau Lai
(Vietnam),
Dang iu
ciu (Taiwan),
Lapalapa(Nigeria)
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Uses of
Jatropha Curcas
Plant
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Various parts of J. curcas can be
utilized for a wide range of purposes.
The tree itself has been used for
erosion control,
fire wood, as
hedge
plant
and for plant protection. The
leaves are used as a substrate for eri
silkworm, anti-inflammatory substance as
well as
medicinal uses. Since latex that
consists of protease has medicinal, pesticidal and mollusk control
properties, it have been used for
medicinal purposes such as wound
healing.
The bark is rich in tannin and also
yields a
dark blue dye.
The flowers attract bees and thus the
plant has a potential use in
honey production.
Seeds have been used as insecticide,
food/fodder (non-toxic varieties or when
detoxified). The seed that contain
viscous oil can be used for
soap production,
cosmetic industry,
fuel,
lubricant,
insecticide, medicine and when mixed
with iron oxide, they can be used in
varnish.
Seed cake is useful as fertilizer
or in
biogas production. Briquettes can be
used as fuel, nutraceuticals and fodder,
while the seed shells are combustible.
Fruit hulls are also combustible,
contain tannin and can be used as green
manure and in biogas production. Lastly,
the roots contain yellow oil with strong
antihelminthic properties.
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Jatropha
Curcas as Biodiesel
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The
oil from
Jatropha Curcas
is regarded as a
potential fuel
substitute. Diesel is a
hydrocarbon with 8±10
carbon atoms per
molecule, but
Jatropha Curcas oil
has 16±18. Thus, the nut
oil is much more viscous
than diesel and has a
lower ignition quality.
Because of these
reasons, application of
the oil directly in
engines is not
recommended since it
will cause some engine
problems like excessive
engine wear and coking
of injectors and
carbon
deposits on
piston and head of
engine.
Therefore, raw
Jatropha Curcas oil
must first undergoes
transesterification
process. In conventional
processes, biodiesel is
manufactured by the
transesterification of
oils with methanol in
the presence of
catalysts, such as
alkalis (KOH, NaOH) or
their corresponding
alkoxides. However,
Jatropha Curcas oil
with high content of
free fatty acids (FFAs)
cannot be directly used
in an alkali catalyzed
transesterification
process because FFAs
react with alkali
catalyst to form soaps,
resulting in serious
emulsification and
separation problems.
Hence,
de-waxing and
de-gumming
of raw
Jatropha Curcas oil
or pre-esterification
process must take place
before
transesterification
process could be done in
order to convert raw
Jatropha Curcas oil
into biodiesel.
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