Evaluation of Jatropha macrocarpa as an oil crop for biodiesel production in arid lands of the Dry Chaco, Argentina.

WASSNER D.; LARRAN A.; RONDANINI D.

JOURNAL OF ARID ENVIRONMENTS

ACADEMIC PRESS LTD-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2012 vol. 77 p. 153 - 156

0140-1963

Jatropha macrocarpa grows in arid environments with freezing temperatures in the Dry Chaco region of Argentina. Our objective was to evaluate the reproductive performance and the oil characteristics during grain filling in order to evaluate its chances to become in a new oil crop for biodiesel for arid lands with freezing temperatures. Fruits were harvested during the reproductive season 2007/8 and classified in 7 groups, from the smallest (G1) to the largest (G7 or mature). Total mean seed production was 87±7.8 g plant-1. After maturity, explosive dehiscence implicated losses of 46.6% of the total seeds production. The early harvest of fruit at G6 stage involve less individual seed weight (291 mg) and oil concentration (20%) with respect to mature seeds. In mature fruits, biomass allocation to seeds was 36 % of total fruit biomass, and individual seed dry weight was 550 ± 7.0 mg, oil concentration ranged 36-40 %. Main fatty acids in oil from mature seeds were linoleic (50.3%), oleic (32.1%), palmitic (8.5%) and stearic (6.9%). Biodiesel quality parameters indicated slight differences for CN (46) and IV (121) with respect to European normative requirements.