Non-food oilseed plants as an alternative resource for biofuel production

Tested in the same habitat (Northeast India), 28 jatropha accessions showed a wide range of response. The morphological and physiological differences had no significant influence of seed weight (67-76 g/100 seeds). Oils yield with a mean value of 27.93% can be considered a medium yield for jatropha, with only few accessions had oil over 30%. However, differences were well evident in free fatty acids (1.4-28.7%), phorbol esters (1.1-4.3 mg/g oil), tocopherols (73.7-907.8 ng/mg oil) and unsaturated fatty acid (78.8- 90.8%) content. The present data support studies to correlate genetic, morphological, physiological and biochemical traits in each genotype considered for future selection of ideotypes with low undesirable free fatty acids content and potential valorization of secondary oil products to enhancing economic viability and sustainability of the jatropha oil-based biodiesel chain.