Abstract
Jatropha curcas is a highly promising species for biodiesel production in Burkina Faso and other countries in the tropics. It is rustic, grows in warm regions and is easily cultivated. These characteristics and high-quality oil yields from the seeds have made it a priority for biodiesel programs. Consequently, this plant merits genetic investigations aimed at improving yields. The present study was conducted to determine the extent of genetic variability and relationships among 30 accessions from Burkina Faso using 7 qualitative characters and 20 quantitative characters. For most of the traits, there were highly significant differences among the accessions. A positive and significant correlation between the 100-seed weight trait and the oil content trait was observed. The oil content trait is significantly and positively influenced by growth traits such as plant height and crown diameter. Based on the petiole base pigmentation, three morphotypes were identified: green morphotype, purple morphotype and brown morphotype. The green morphotype was characterized by very high oil content and high 100-seed weight while the brown morphotype presents low oil content and low 100-seed weight. The purple morphotype registered a high oil content and medium 100-seed weight. These results are important for the continuity of breeding programs, aimed at obtaining cultivars with high grain yield and high oil content in seeds.
Highlights
Physic nut (Jaropha curcas L.) is a perennial oil plant commonly used in tropical areas as a medicinal plant, in the construction of defensive hedges against animals and in the fight against water erosion [1]
The petiole base expressed several pigmen- seed weight character was positively correlated with the charactation color (Figure 2): green (33.33%), brown (13.33%) and ters linked to vegetative development such as plant height
According to [16], qualitative characters are morphological markers that can be used to identify lines in a relatively short time. These authors reported that the development of descriptors on peren-. Discussion nial plants such as J. curcas can contribute to an effective use of germplasm in the improvement programs
Summary
Physic nut (Jaropha curcas L.) is a perennial oil plant commonly used in tropical areas as a medicinal plant, in the construction of defensive hedges against animals and in the fight against water erosion [1] It is rustic, grows in warm regions and is cultivated. Grows in warm regions and is cultivated These characteristics and high-quality oil yields from the seeds have made this plant a priority and a highly promising species for biodiesel programs in countries in the tropics [2]. J. curcas provides various products that contribute to poverty reduction, in particular the promotion of income-generating activities mainly for women such as sale of seeds and soap and the valuation of oil cakes as organic fertilizers It is an opportunity for developing countries to improve farmers' incomes and even stimulate the rural economy [6]. The viability of the J. curcas-based biodiesel sector is essentially based on highly productive and oil-rich J. curcas genotypes [6]
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