When Jatropha costaricensis Webster & Poveda was described from Guanacaste, Costa Rica, some years ago (Webster & Poveda, 1978), it was predicted that other xeric relict taxa might be discovered elsewhere in Central America. Recent botanical exploration in Nicaragua has disclosed not only a number of new populations of Jatropha podagrica Hook. in rocky areas in Dept. Esteli, but also on basalti...

The present review justifies the potentials of Jatropha curcas Linn plant. Jatropha curcas l or physic nut is a drought resistant monoecious large shrub or small tree (5-8) m tall, belongs to the genus Jatropha, member of Euphorbiaceae family. The pharmacological studies revealed that Jatropha curcas Linn possess wound healing, antitumour, antimetastatic, antibacterial, larvicidal, anti-inflamm...

Recent research on seeds of bio-diesel plants like Jatropha curcas, constituting 40-50% bio-crude oil indicates its potential as one of the most promising alternatives to conventional sources of energy. Also, limited studies on utilization of de-oiled cake have revealed that Jatropha bio-waste has good potential to be used as organic fertilizers produced via aerobic and anaerobic treatment. How...

Soil contamination by used lubricating oil from automobiles is a growing concern in many countries, especially in Asian and African continents. Phytoremediation of this polluted soil with non-edible plant like Jatropha curcas offers an environmental friendly and cost-effective method for remediating the polluted soil. In this study, phytoremediation of soil contaminated with 2.5 and 1% (w/w) wa...

Phytochemical studies were carried out on the plant parts of Jatropha curcas (L.) and Azadirachta indica (A. Juss) found in the South Eastern parts of Nigeria with a view to highlighting their pre-existing secondary metabolites which have varieties of biological activities attributed to them. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of seven secondary metabolites (alkaloids, tannins, saponins, fla...

This paper presents a pre-mixed combustion model for diesel and Jatropha oil blends combustion studies. Jatropha oil blends are considered as a mixture of diesel and Jatropha oil. CFD package, FLUENT 6.3 is used for modeling the complex combustion phenomenon in compression ignition engine. The experiments are carried out on a single cylinder, four strokes, water cooled direct injection compress...

This study seeks to analyze the benefits, as well as the likely risks of cultivating Jatropha curcas in small production units of rain fed lands in Yucatán. In order to analyze the possible development of local artisanal agri-industry in the context of policies related to biofuels in Mexico, interviews with key informants were made to identify the agricultural potential of Jatropha c. in monocu...

Thermochemical conversion of non-edible biomass offers an efficient and economically process to provide valuable fuels and prepare chemicals derived from biomass in the context of developing countries. Pyrolysis has advantages over other thermochemical conversion techniques because it can convert biomass directly into solid, liquid and gaseous products by thermal decomposition of biomass in the...

The water footprint (WF) of a product refers to freshwater consumed during production (1). We calculated bioenergy WFs assuming crop water requirements are met (2); Jongschaap et al. (3) correctly point out that this is not always true, giving an example for jatropha grown under poor, rainfed conditions in South Africa. Yields are generally expressed in ton/ha, but, when water is scarcer than l...

A microplate assay and a thin-layer chromatography (TLC) "in situ" assay based on the Ellman assay was used to screen for acetylcholinesterase inhibitors from ethyl acetate and methanol extracts of Brazilian medicinal plants of families that, according to the literature, have traditional uses that might be connected with acetylcholinesterase inhibition. Eighteen species belonging to Convolvulac...