沙漠研究 21-2, 51 - 55 (2011)“ICAL 1/DT X”

Journal of Arid Land Studies-Refereed Article-

Effect of Climate and Soil Condition on Oil Content of Jatropha Plants Grown
in Arid Areas of India
Sanjay KUMAR*1), 4), Satyendra Dev SHUKLA2), Prakash Kumar GAUTAM3),
Shigeru KATO4) and Toshinori KOJIMA4)
Abstract: Jatropha curcas remains the most promising source of biofuel. It is a low growing oil-seed-bearing tree that is common
in tropical and subtropical regions where the plant is often used in traditional medicine and the seed oil is used for lighting. Unlike
other major biofuel crops. Jatropha is not a food crop and thus not compete for space suitable to agriculture. It can grow well insemi-arid regions with low nutrient requirements. The seed typically contains 35 percent oil and has properties highly suited tomaking biodiesel. The rooting nature of Jatropha allows it to reach water from deep in the soil and to extract leached mineral
nutrients that are unavailable to many other plants. The surface roots assist in binding the soil and can reduce soil erosion. However,its constituents vary with soil and climatic condition to a great extent, which affects several parameters of biodiesel from Jatropha.
Variation also occurs when marginal farming is changed to commercial farming with irrigation facility. Results obtained fromanalysis of various samples also indicate variation in colour and trace elements, some of which can cause corrosion of materials.
Key Words: Arid plantation, Climatic effect, Jatropha, Oil content

1. Introduction
Projections, based on current policies, show fossil fuels willcontinue to dominate the energy mix, with global
energy-related CO2 emissions in 2030 reaching 38 billion
tonnes. The geographic location of new emissions will likely
shift dramatically, from the industrialised countries to thedeveloping world. Global energy-related emissions of CO2
will rise by 1.8% per year to 2030, slightly faster than primaryenergy demand (IEA, 2010). Nuclear energy and solar
energy can meet electricity demand to a large extent, reducing
the role of fossil fuel in this sector; however, petroleum energy
will remain in demand in several sectors, particularly intransportation.
Biofuels are being considered a good substitute for fossil
fuels despite its 1% solar energy conversion capacity(conversion capacity of solar PV Cells are greater than 20%
and is likely to increase further) because they fall in zero
emission categories and meet most of the criteria in thetransportation sector. Since transportation is responsible forsome 30 percent of current energy usage (Fig. 1) and biofuels
can be used in transportation with only few changes to theexisting distribution infrastructure, biofuels have become an
extremely important form of bioenergy. Producing liquidbiofuels from food crops using conventional technology is also
being pursued as a means of farm income support and for* Corresponding Author: prof.kumars@gmail.com

Quadrillion BTU
300.0

200.0

Transportation

IndustrialElectricity

Commercial

170

181

194

206

Residential
217

229

100.00.0

2005

2010

2015

2020

2025

2030

Fig. 1. Projection of liquid fuel demand in five sectors.

driving rural development.
Energy market is quite large as compared to the agriculturalcommodities market including biofuels. Hence, the lattercannot significantly address climate change and energy security.
However, the increased demand for biofuels does create a huge
new market for agricultural products (IEA, 2010). Liquidbiofuels generally require large-scale production andprocessing to be viable, although this is less true where the end
product is straight vegetable oil or oil which can be processed
locally for direct blending of diesel. In several cases, they
don’t compete for agricultural land and provide an alternative(Received June 14th, 2011; Accepted October18th, 2011)

P.O. Box – 5, Muzaffarpur – 842001, Bihar, India1) Centre for Renewable Energy and Environmental Research, Muzaffarpur, Bihar, India3) District Rural Development Agency, Zila Panchayat, Damoh, Madhya Pradesh, India

2) CSFER, Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, Allahabad, India

4) Department of Materials and Life Science, Seikei University, Tokyo, JAPANJatropha Curcas Belt
Palm Oil Belt
Jatropha Curcas Belt

Fig. 2. Ingredients of biodiesel in various regions.
Table 1. Waste Land suitable for Jatropha plantation.

Africa andMiddle East
Asia
5901

Europe10448
06
14aricmeA1
rth 420
1NoS. No.

States(million ha.)12

M.P. & ChhattisgarhRajasthan

6.62
5.688

34Maharashtra
Andhra Pradesh

4.855
4.396

5

Bihar & Jharkhand
Total (India)

1.86
40.037

Table 2. Parameters used for GCMS analysis.

Central andSouth AmericaFig. 3. Biodiesel output in 2008 (kmt/Yr).

strategy to combat desertification while providing analternative source of energy.

2. Bio-ethanol and Biodiesel
Bio-ethanol and biodiesel are two main end products foruse as liquid fuels. Bio-ethanol is produced by fermentationof sugar content in agri-produce. Sugarcane (Australia, Brazil,China, Colombia, Ethiopia, India, Mexico, Thailand), sugar
beets (EU), maize (US, China), wheat (Canada, EU), cassava(Thailand) are major ingredients in the production ofbio-ethanol (Fig. 2). There are growing concerns, however,about stress on food availability and price rise in third world
countries due to diversion of edible food sources. The
economics of bio-ethanol favors corn and has been a major
reason for higher corn price despite continuous increase inplantation acreage. Global coarse grain stocks have beenlately getting uncomfortably tight. Corn ethanol production isS. No.

Parameters

Values12Temperature Range
50RRIER

50-200 ?C
0.5 ml/min

34Make up
Split

29.5 ml/min
1:50

5Purge10 ml/min

6Attn

5 (3.12%)

expected to reach 12 billion gallon in 2015 and will account for
30% of the corn crop, which may cause severe food crisis.
Biodiesel is a better substitute than bio-ethanol. Biodiesel
is a monoalkyl ester of long chain fatty acids produced fromthe trans-esterification reaction of vegetable oil with alcohol in
the presence of a catalyst (Gerpen, 2005; Lele, 2006). Figure
3 shows the status of continental biodiesel production in 2008.

3. Jatropha: Source of bioenergy
Interest in Jatropha curcas as a source of oil for producing
biodiesel has arisen as a consequence of its perceived ability togrow in semi-arid regions with low nutrient requirements andRetention time (Minutes)
Retention time (Minutes)

-

18.0

-

20.0

-

22.0-

24.0-

26.0-

28.0

-

18.0

Standard Solution

20.53024.067Detector Response(Sample – 1)

-

20.0

19.84320.384

-

22.0-

24.0-

26.0-

28.0-

18.0

-

20.0

23.53123.31123.973

Retention time (Minutes)

Retention time (Minutes)

Detector Response(Sample -2)
19.83720.463
-

22.0-

24.0

22.09323.39324.741

-

26.0-

28.0-

18.0-

20.0-

22.0

-

24.0

24.881(Sample – 3)

19.83420.41621.995-28.0

23.41123.97324.69926.0

23.733Detector Response

23.371-23.36124.09623.61824.858Detector Response
Fig. 4. Standard GCMS of methyl ester and of three samples of Jatropha oil.

4. Methodology
Samples were collected from several sites in India withdiverse climatic conditions, soil types and plantation (marginal,irrigated and non-irrigated farming), to investigate the effect on
C16 and C18 compounds in Jatropha oil. Oil was extracted
by standard process of esterification and analysed with Gas
Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer (GCMS). Chromato-graphic data represents detector response against retention
time. The spectrum of peaks for the samples represents theanalytes present in a sample eluting from the column atdifferent times. Retention time can be used to identify
analytes and the pattern of peaks can identify complex mixturesof analytes. The area under a peak is proportional to theamount of analyte present in the chromatogram. By
calculating the area of the peak using the mathematical functionof integration, the concentration of an analyte in the original
sample can be determined. The follwing parameters wereselected in the final experiment (Table 2).

5. Results and Discussion
Results of GCMS analysis for three samples are shown in
Figure 4. Due to background noise (not shown here), thevalue of peak cannot be used to show the relative strength.
They are only indicative of the presence of various constituentsin Jatropha oil. Presence of C16 and C18 compounds areidentified with the help of standard curves of Methyl Palmitate
and Methyl Stearate. The area under the curve represents

Electricity Accessuse of solid fuelRural Electricity Access

Percentage

1007550cc

25jil
Br
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aEthozaniMali

TanndilaTh
aaetnamankIndiL

Viia

0Sr

little management (Prueksakorn and Gheewala, 2006; Kureel,2006). The seed typically contains 35 percent oil which hasproperties highly suited to biodiesel production (Vijay et al.,2004). It is a low growing oil-seed-bearing tree that iscommon in tropical and subtropical regions where the plant isoften used in traditional medicine and the seed oil is sometimes
used for lighting (Sirisomboon, 2007). The tree is occasionallygrown as a live fence for excluding livestock and for
demarcating property. The rooting nature of Jatropha allows it
to reach water from deep in the soil and to extract leachedmineral nutrients that are unavailable to many other plants.
The surface roots assist in binding the soil and can reduce soilerosion. In 2008, Jatropha was planted on an estimated 900,
000 ha globally – 760,000 ha (85 percent) in Asia, followed by
120 000 ha in Africa and 20 000 ha in Latin America (Brittaine.
and Lutaladio, 2010). By 2015, forecasts suggest that Jatrophawill be planted on 12.8 million ha. In India, waste land suitable
for Jatropha plantation is estimated to be over 40 million hectare.
Table 1 shows land availability in five states of India, whereJatropha plantation will not compete with agriculture.

Fig. 5. Status of electricity in countries where Jatropha can be grown.

their relative strength as compared to each other.
The CCMS curve shows wide variation in its constituents.
However, the main components remain C16 and C18, whichchanged with variation in other parameters. Though it is very
difficult to quantify and correlate oil in seeds with otherparameters, it is possible to ascertain the best relative condition.
The overall oil content also varied. A relative analysis ofsamples showed variation of oil content from 25% to 41%.
Dry farming suits Jatropha plantation best as, oil content andC18 to C16 ratio, both increased. C16 remained almost
constant but the ratio varied from 5.5 to 5.9 as computed fromchromatogram. The ratio between is calculated by computing
the area under the curve representing C16 and C18 peaks. The
instrument used combines gas chromatograph and the mass
spectrometer. With an increase in C18 fraction, the colour ofjatropha oil also changed from dark brown to relatively lightbrown.
Although Jatropha is adapted to low fertility sites andalkaline soils, better yields can be obtained on poor quality soils
if fertilizers containing small amounts of calcium, magnesium,and sulfur are used. Mycorrhizal associations have also been
observed with Jatropha and increased the plant’s growth underconditions where phosphate is limiting. 1 kg of farmyard
manure and 100 g of Neem waste for every seedling in farming
conditions provided better oil output than in commercial farms.
Crop density also affects the oil output of the plant. Underfarming conditions, 2,500 trees per hectare provides better
quantity of oil per seeds, while for commercial farming theaverage plantation of 4,000 trees increases oil output perhectare (Lele, 2006). Preliminary investigation indicates thatthe fruit size in plants increases by partial root drying
mechanism. A methodology to parametrie and use themechanism for higher oil yield in Jatropha seeds is underinvestigation.

6. Conclusion
The key factors that can influence the oil yield of Jatropha
curcas are: climate, quality of the soil, irrigation, weeding, useof fertilizer, crop density, genotype, use of pesticide andinter-cropping. It can withstand severe heat. It does well inwarmer areas. During winter season, it will drop its leaves.
It can withstand light frost but not for prolonged periods. Theoil content is highest in sandy, well-drained soils. It canwithstand very poor soils and saline conditions. Organic
fertilizers provide higher yield. It needs rainfall as low as 250
mm a year. However, oil content is better in case of 600 1,300 mm rainfall. Under irrigation 1,500 mm is optimum.
4,000 trees per hectare is best for commercial irrigated farming
while 2,500 trees are best for unmanaged and marginal farming.
Given the state of electric supply in rural areas in developing
countries (Fig. 5), potential of Jatropha as poor man’s energy
source is simply incomparable.

Acknowledgement
Authors are grateful to New Energy Foundation, Asia
Biomass office for providing financial support and otherfacilities to the research work.

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