Oil content in Jatropha curcas L. non-toxic accesses in Veracruz, Mexico

Abstract

The seeds of Jatropha curcas L., present high oil content,  and therefore have a high potential as a raw material for  biodiesel productio. However, the production level and oil  content in non-toxic seeds from Veracruz is unknown. The  objective of this paper was to determine the oil content and  yield of different accessions of non-toxic J. curcas collected  in different regions of the state of Veracruz, sexually and  asexually propagated, and established in the central region  of Veracruz. The plant material consisted on 16 nontoxic  accesses, propagated by seed and stakes. In three-year-old  plants morpho-productive determinations were made,  and seeds were collected during the 2014 cycle. For the  extraction of oil, the Goldfish® equipment was used, using  hexane as solvent. No statistical differences were found  between accesses for oil content. In general, all accesses  had high values in oil content. In plants propagated by seed  fluctuated between 54.13 to 60.98%, and in those originated  by stake was from 51.75 to 58.48%. Significant positive  correlations were found between fruit number and oil content  (r= 0.74) and seed weight and oil content (r= 0.79) in seed  propagated plants. The highest oil yield per hectare, based  on the number of fruits (157) (184) and seed weight (641.1  g plant^-1) (817.8 g plant^-1) corresponded to accesses I-32 and I-34, with 590.55 and 761.68 L ha^-1, respectively, in seedpropagated  plants. It is concluded that seed propagated plants  had a better performance than those propagated by stake.