Studies On Chemical Constituents Of Jatropha Curcas L. Seeds And Rapid Propagation In Vitro Of Its Seedling In Southwest Of China

Jatropha curcas L., a member of the family Euphorbiaceae, is known for its wildly application prospects. In this paper, some aspects of phytochemistry and tissue culture were studied to exploit and utilize the resources of the J. curcas in our county.The seeds of J. curcas from 6 different locations in Southwest China were collected and their biological characteristics were studied. The physicochemical characteristics and fatty acid composition of the seed oils were also analyzed. The results show that the hundred-seed-weight ranged from 41.8 g to 71.39 g, the kernel weight of seed 60.02% to 81.43%, the oil content 51.76% to 57.93% in kernel and 31.07% to 47.17% in whole seed, and the total unsaturated fatty acid 74.89% to 79.68%, across the seed sources. And Yongsheng source performed the best and yielded a maximum kernel weight of seed of 81.43%, a maximum oil of 57.93% from kernel and 47.17% from whole seed, and a maximum total unsaturated fatty acid of 79.68%. The performance of Panzhihua and Ningnanwere also good. Among all the samples whose acid value ranging from 0.81 to 9.46, the Shuangbai and Luodian sources had the lowest 0.81. The data were analyzed by variance analysis. The results suggested that there were some differences in the biological characteristics of J. curcas seeds and physicochemical characteristics and fatty acid composition of the seed oils, among the 6 sources.