Curcas Fruit Research Articles

Synthesis and intensification of a biorefinery to produce renewable aviation fuel, biofuels, bioenergy and chemical products from Jatropha Curcas fruit

The production of renewable aviation fuel has been explored in recent years considering different types of biomasses and several conversion pathways. The technical feasibility of the production of renewable aviation fuel has already been proved; however, the main challenge is to achieve economic and environmental sustainability regarding to its fossil counterparts. In this context, the integrated biorefineries are a potential strategy to address these challenges. Therefore, in this work it is presented the conversion of Jatropha curcas fruit through a biorefinery to produce renewable aviation fuel, biofuels, bioenergy and chemical products. The synthesis, modelling and simulation of each processing stage in the biorefinery is presented, along with its economic and environmental assessment. Moreover, the intensification of the purification zone is addressed. According to the results, biojet fuel, biodiesel, glycerol, fertilizer, green diesel, naphtha and electricity are produced through the biorefinery. In addition, less than 1% of energy savings were obtained due to intensified sequence to separate biojet fuel. Also, 90% of the total electricity consumption is covered by its generation in situ, improving the environmental sustainability of the production of renewable aviation fuel.

Biochemical methane potential of Jatropha curcas fruit shell: comparative effect of mechanical, steam explosion and alkaline pretreatments

Jatropha curcas is a promising tropical and subtropical plant species for biodiesel production that can reduce the competition between food and energy production. Jatropha seed processing for oil extraction usually generates considerable amount of Jatropha curcas fruit shell (JCFS), which can be considered as a potential substrate for biogas production rather than being discarded as solid waste. However, the higher lignocellulosic constituents in JCFS potentially affect the biological degradation process. Thus, applying suitable pretreatment techniques in advance of anaerobic digestion could enhance the biodegradability and methane yield of JCFS. In this study, the effect of mechanical, steam explosion (SE), and alkaline pretreatments on the chemical composition and methane yield of JCFS was examined at various process conditions. As compared with the untreated sample, grinding the JCFS into a particle size of less than 1 mm increased the methane yield by 74.23%, while at the optimum SE pretreatment process (160 °C, 5 min), the methane yield was increased by 54.75%. The alkaline pretreatment was relatively less effective over the other pretreatments; 44.05% methane yield increment was achieved after soaking the JCFS with 7.32% NaOH at 36 °C for 54 h. The effect of SE on compositional change depends on the severity factor in which severe pretreatment conditions were adequate for solubilizing the hemicellulose but resulted in higher pseudo-lignin and lower methane yields. In conclusion, all pretreatments processes have significantly increased the methane yield of JCFS as compared to the untreated JCFS; however, mechanical pretreatment was more effective than SE and alkaline pretreatments.

Enhancement of biogas yield during anaerobic digestion of Jatropha curcas seed by pretreatment and co-digestion with mango peels

The combustion of fossil fuels is accompanied with a number of alarming problems such as fossil fuel depletion, increase in their prices, and emission of greenhouse gases. Thus, the need for the alternative renewable biofuels was increased to replace non-renewable fossil fuels. The sustainable use of non-edible feedstocks and waste for production of biofuels is a potential approach for reducing dependency on fossil fuels and mitigating environmental pollution. In the current study, the effects of carbon to nitrogen (C/N) ratios on methane yield during anaerobic co-digestion of Jatropha curcas de-oiled seed kernel and mango peels were evaluated in continuous reactors. The biogas potential and effects of acid pretreatment on J. curcas fruit were also evaluated during anaerobic batch digestion. The methane yield of co-digested mango peels and seed kernel (1:4 weight ratio based on volatile solids) was 61%, 50%, 36%, and 25% higher compared with the methane yields of mango peels, seed kernel, mango peels/seed kernel (2:1 w/w), and mango peels/seed kernel (1:1 w/w), respectively. The methane yields of the co-digestion of mango peels and seed kernel at 1:4, 1:1, and 2:1 ratios were 52%, 39%, and 32% of the theoretical yields, respectively, illustrating the importance of adjusting C/N ratio with the right amounts of co-substrate. The biogas yield of pretreated fruit coat was 7%, 22%, 34%, 50%, and 74% higher than that of the seed kernel, fruit coat (non-pretreated), de-oiled kernel plus seed coat (pretreated) (1.7:1, by weight), seed coat (pretreated), and seed coat (non-pretreated), respectively. Additionally, pretreatment of fruit coat and seed coat resulted in 22% and 47% higher biogas yields compared with their non-pretreated counterparts. This study revealed key substrate selection and pretreatment methods for increasing methane production from common seed oil production and agricultural wastes.

Energetic valorization of the residual biomass produced during Jatropha curcas oil extraction

The Jatropha curcas fruit shells (JCFS) and Jatropha curcas seed cake (JCSC) have drawbacks when used as fuel, namely flame front instabilities and short combustion periods. In this work, a blend of 25 wt% Jatropha curcas pellets with 75 wt% of pruning residues (PR) resulted in a fuel mixture that promote a stable flame front and the combustion process could be sustained for periods larger than 60 min. The improvement in the combustion of the blend composed of Jatropha curcas pellets and PR, when compared to mono-combustion of Jatropha curcas pellets, can be explained in result of the better fuel properties given by PR to the fuel blend. It was observed that PR combustion is associated to higher temperatures in the flame gases and the CO concentration in the flue gas is less than 1500 mg/Nm3 (dry gases, 13% vol. O2), thus in accordance to the European standards for solid fuel stoves. Although the PR fraction in the biomass mixtures is high (75 wt%), the observed CO concentration in the flue gas during combustion of the fuel blends was higher than 1500 mg/Nm3 (dry gases, 13% vol. O2) especially in the fuel mixtures that incorporate JCFS in their composition.

Physical Properties of Jatropha curcas L. Fruits and Seeds with Respect to Their Maturity Stage

Jatropha curcas L. is a multipurpose bioenergy crop. Physical properties of J. curcas fruits and seeds are a fundamental knowledge required for the design of processing machinery. Therefore, this research investigates the physical properties at different maturity stages as indicated by pericarp color of the fruits (green, yellow, and black). Rupture force, hardness, deformation at rupture point, deformation ratio at rupture, and energy used for rupture were measured in the length and width direction of the fruits and in the length, width, and thickness of the seeds. During the course of maturing, a decrease in the unit mass and the surface area of the fruits was observed with a simultaneous increase for the seeds. Moisture content decreased during maturing. Bulk density and solid density were considerably different among maturity stages. The lowest porosity was observed in black fruits as well as “black” seeds. The highest dynamic and static angle of repose was detected for black fruits, while no substantial difference was observed between “yellow” and “black” seeds. The highest and lowest coefficient of static friction for all fruits and seeds was found on rubber and plastic surfaces.

Thermochemical characterization of Nigerian Jatropha curcas fruit and seed residues for biofuel production

This study investigates the thermochemical properties of the separate components of jatropha biomass residues of Nigerian origin towards bio-oil production. The biomass residues (Jatropha curcas fruit shells and seed coat) were obtained from their mature jatropha fruits and subjected to physico-chemical characterization (structural composition analysis, thermogravimetric analysis, proximate and ultimate analyses). The structural compositions (extractives, hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin contents) of jatropha fruit shell and jatropha seed coat were 3%, 34.0%, 40.0% and 12.7%, and 42.3%, 32.5%, 10.5% and 5.7%, respectively. The thermogravimetric analysis showed that the ash contents of jatropha seed coat and jatropha fruit shell were 0.8% and 15.4%, respectively. The carbon contents were 48.3% and 41.5%, while measured calorific values were 20.06 MJ/kg and 17.14 MJ/kg for jatropha seed coat and fruit shell, respectively. The carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and sulphur contents were found comparable with those in the literature. This study indicated that the thermochemical properties of the Nigerian Jatropha fruit and seeds residues were comparable with literature values and residues were found suitable for bio-oil production.

Discrete element method simulation of the hulling process of Jatropha curcas L. fruits

Hulling of Jatropha curcas fruits is an important step to isolate seeds from hulls. Physical characteristics of fruit such as length, width, thickness, geometric mean diameter, solid density, rupture force, deformation at rupture point, Poisson's ratio and shear modulus as well as interaction properties such as coefficient of restitution, static and rolling friction were measured. A prototype of a motor-driven huller was developed based on discrete element method (DEM) simulation by applying the Hertz–Mindlin contact model. Optimum upper and lower concave clearance were studied in terms of compressive force occurring in the system. Rotor torque and specific energy input ranged from 60 to 110 Nm and 0.013 to 0.021 kWh kg−1, respectively. The maximum throughput of fruits was 1152 kg h−1. The highest hulling efficiency of 98.8% was achieved at a throughput of 477 kg h−1. Grading of J. curcas fruits to achieve size homogeneity and the removal of stones and sand are suggested as further improvements in the hulling process.

SOME PHYSICAL AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF JATROPHA FRUITS

This study was conducted to investigate some physical and mechanical properties of dried Jatropha curcas fruits cultivated in Egypt. The physical and mechanical properties were determined with a moisture content of Jatropha fruit 11.56 (%, d. b.). The results showed that the mean values of the %-ages by weight of fruit parts to whole fruit was 66.24, 33.76, 40.85 and 25.39 % for seeds, shells, kernels and husks, respectively. The results also includes the following properties; length, width, thickness, arithmetic and geometric mean diameter, sphericity, aspect ratio, mass and volume of individual fruit, thousand fruit mass, bulk density, surface area and specific surface area, their averages were found to be 26.84 mm, 20.73 mm, 19.45 mm, 22.34 mm, 22.10 mm, 82.55 %, 77.53 %, 2.61 g, 5.71 cm3, 2552.9 g, 0.304 g/cm3 1539.1 mm2 and 1.82 cm2/cm3, respectively. The mean value of angle of repose was 0.523 rad. For the coefficient of static friction; the galvanized iron sheet surface had the lowest value (0.453) followed by aluminum (0.491) while; the rubber surface had the highest value (0.655). For the rupture forces; the force required for rupturing of fruit in the horizontal loading position (90.56 N) was higher than the force required in the vertical loading position (39.70 N) of the fruit.

Natural Enemies of <i>Calidea panaethiopica</i> (Heteroptera: Scutelleridae): An Insect Pest of <i>Jatropha curcas</i> L. in the South-Sudanian Zone of Burkina Faso

Jatropha curcas L. is a non-edible oleaginous plant of Euphorbiacea family. Its seeds provide oil for industrial use, and when grown as a biofuel, J. curcas can be used to restore degraded soil by improving their fertility and by controlling water and wind erosion. The plant also reduces CO2 emission by carbon sequestration. However, J. curcas is attacked by many insect pests including C. panaethiopica, a polyphagous heteroptera of the Scutelleridae family. Larvae and adults of the insect pest feed on J. curcas flowers, fruit, and seeds, thereby causing quantitative and qualitative losses. Despite the economic importance of this insect pest, there is little known about its potential natural enemies. A survey of the natural enemies of C. panaethiopica was carried out from 3rd June 2013 to 29th May 2014 on three J. curcas production sites in the South-Sudanian zone of Burkina Faso. Three Hymenopteran egg parasitoids all belonging to the Scelionidae family were found. These included Trissolcus basalis (Wollaston), Psixstriaticeps (Dodd), and Gryon sp. Several predator species belonging to the Araneae, Tarachodidae and Mantidae families were also found. The egg parasitism increased progressively between June and September 2013, reaching a peak (43%) in September 2013. The number of spiders and mantises was higher between July and August 2013. The highest numbers of natural enemies associated with the insect pest were recorded in J. curcas monoculture plantations.

Analysis of Phorbolester Content During Growth and Development of Jatropha curcas Fruits

<p>Utilization of Jatropha curcas seed meal as animal feed is limited by the presence of toxic compounds. Phorbolester present in Jatropha curcas as a family of compounds known to cause a large number of biological effects such as tumor promoters. The aim of this research is measure phorbolester content during growth and development of Jatropha curcas fruit. Phorbolester extracted by sonification method and analysed by UPLC using phosphoric acid and acetonitrile as mobile phase. Jatropha curcas fruit has ripe in the fifth week because of yellowing of fruit capsule. Toxic genotypes of Jatropha curcas has higher phorobol ester content than non-toxic genotypes approximately 182.1 and 55.2 ng/g respectively. Fruit capsule (122.2 ng/g) has higher phorbolester content than fruit seed (115.2 ng/g). It is due to biosynthesis of diterpene that occur in plastid. Biosynthesis of phorbolester possibly occured in initiation and maturation of fruit because the high level of phorbolester occur in the first and fifth week.</p><p><strong>Keywords:</strong> Jatropha curcas, toxic genotypes, non-toxic genotypes, fruit seed, fruit capsule</p>

Dilute sulphuric acid pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis of Jatropha curcas fruit shells for ethanol production

Jatropha curcas is a promising source of oil for the biodiesel industry, and the shells of its fruits could be considered for ethanol production. In this work, the composition of J. curcas shells is investigated, and the potential of dilute-sulphuric acid pretreatment for improving the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose is evaluated. A Box–Behnken experimental design was used for assessing the effect of temperature (110–150°C), H2SO4 concentration (0.5–2.5%) and pretreatment time (15–45min) on the formation of sugars during pretreatment and on the enzymatic conversion of cellulose. Cellulose conversions above 80% were achieved both in the separated enzymatic hydrolysis and in the simultaneous saccharification and fermentation of the pretreated materials. Optimal SSF conversions were predicted for pretreatments at low temperature (136°C) and moderate acid concentrations (1.5%) and reaction time (30min). The inclusion of an extraction step prior to the pretreatment revealed a further improvement of the enzymatic conversion of cellulose.

English

Extracts from seeds and leaves of Jatropha curcas have shown molluscidal, insecticidal and fungicidal properties. J. curcas extracts were found to inhibit the mycelium growth of Colletotrichum musae that causes anthracnose disease in bananas. The antimicrobial activity of crude methanol extracts of J. curcas fruits, pulp and seeds were investigated. J. curcas fruits, pulp and seeds were collected from the farm of Universiti Putra Malaysia. The samples were air dried at ambient temperature, then oven-dried to remove the residual moisture. Equivalent amounts of each ground sample of the J. curcas fruits, pulp and seeds were soaked in methanol solvent and left to stand for 7 days before being filtered and evaporated. The extract was spread over potato dextrose agar (PDA) medium under an aseptic condition and incubated. The zone of inhibition of mycelial growth (mm) around the disc was measured. Both J. curcas seed and pulp extracts had higher antifungal activity than whole fruit extract. J. curcas seed extract showed significant antifungal activities with growth inhibition zone of 5.6 mm or equivalent to 78.87% inhibition followed by pulp with zone of 7.4 mm or equivalent to 72.07%, and whole fruits with zone of 14.2 mm or equivalent to 46.42% as compared to the control with zone of 26.5 mm or equivalent to 100%. Active microbial components in J. curcas have the potential of an antifungal compound to control Colletotrichum gloeosporioides which causes anthracnose disease in papaya in vitro. Key words : Methanol extracts, inhibition zone, postharvest pathogen.

Floral display and effects of natural and artificial pollination on fruiting and seed yield of the tropical biofuel crop Jatropha curcas L.

AbstractJatropha curcas L. is a tropical tree grown on large scale as a potential biofuel seed crop. However, little information on the reproductive ecology of the species is available. This lack of knowledge makes it hard to predict yield. The higher number of male flowers than female flowers results in a very low yield. In this context, field experiments were conducted in mature (site 1) and young (site 2) plantations in Zambia and mature plantation (site 3) in Malawi to study flowering characteristics and the effect of pollination methods on the fruiting and seed yield of J. curcas. Pollination treatments were open pollination, autogamous pollination, self‐pollination, cross‐pollination and pollen supplemented open pollination. The result showed J. curcas is not only of protandrous nature as reported earlier. The male female flower sex ratio was 17 : 1, 22 : 1 and 10 : 1, respectively, for site 1 and 2 in Zambia and site 3 in Malawi. The mean flower longevity periods were 1.80 ± 0.07 days for male and 4.5 ± 0.18 days for female. Fewer fruit set and seed yield were recorded from autogamous pollination in Zambia sites. In the case of Malawi, more matured fruits resulted from autogamous pollination but the fruits contained fewer seeds. High fruit and seed yield were recorded for open pollination similar to pollen‐supplemented pollination at Zambia sites, which indicates there was no pollen limitation in these sites. In the Malawi site there was no seed yield difference between pollination treatments. The experiment showed that J. curcas can be both protandrous and protogynous and able to produce seeds through both self‐and cross‐pollination. The natural fruit set and seed yield indicates that stimulating natural pollination will improve J. curcas fruit set and seed yield.

Continuous Process for Biodiesel Production in Packed Bed Reactor from Waste Frying Oil Using Potassium Hydroxide Supported on Jatropha curcas Fruit Shell as Solid Catalyst

The transesterification of waste frying oil (WFO) with methanol in the presence of potassium hydroxide catalyst supported on Jatropha curcas fruit shell activated carbon (KOH/JS) was studied. The catalyst systems were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) method. The effects of reaction variables such as residence time, reaction temperature, methanol/oil molar ratio and catalyst bed height in packed bed reactor (PBR) on the yield of biodiesel were investigated. SEM images showed that KOH was well distributed on the catalyst support. The optimum conditions for achieving the conversion yield of 86.7% consisted of a residence time of 2 h, reaction temperature of 60 °C, methanol/oil molar ratio of 16 and catalyst bed height of 250 mm. KOH/JS could be used repeatedly five times without any activation treatment, and no significant activity loss was observed. The results confirmed that KOH/JS catalyst had a great potential to be used for industrial application in the transesterification of WFO. The fuel properties of biodiesel were also determined.

Dilute H2SO4-catalyzed hydrothermal pretreatment to enhance enzymatic digestibility of Jatropha curcas fruit hull for ethanol fermentation

Dilute sulfuric acid pretreatment of the Jatropha curcas fruit hull at high temperatures (140°C to 180°C) performed in a 110-mL stainless steel reactor was investigated to enhance the enzymatic digestibility of its lignocellulosic components. Carbohydrates accounted for 43% of the dry matter of the J. curcas fruit hull biomass. The goal of the study was to optimize the pretreatment conditions (acid concentration, time, and temperature) in order to obtain the highest sugar yield after subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis. A Box-Behnken design was applied to the experimental setup in order to reduce the number of experiments. The optimal pretreatment conditions are 30-min incubations at a temperature of 178°C with a sulfuric acid concentration of 0.9% (w/v). Using these pretreatment conditions for a fruit solid loading of 9.52% followed by a 24-h enzymatic hydrolysis resulted in a liberation of 100% of all pentoses present (71% yield and 29% degradation to furfural) and 83% of the hexoses (78% yield and 5% degradation to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural). The simultaneous saccharification and fermentation experiment showed that acid-pretreated fruit hull can be used as a substrate for Saccharomyces cerevisiae to produce ethanol.

Subchronic toxicity of Jatropha curcas fruit pericarp submitted to alkaline hydrolysis in rat

Subchronic toxicity of Jatropha curcas fruit pericarp submitted to alkaline hydrolysis in rat

Pyrolysis Oil from the Fruit and Cake of Jatropha curcas Produced Using a Low Temperature Conversion (LTC) Process: Analysis of a Pyrolysis Oil-Diesel Blend

Background: The LTC process is a technique that consists of heating solid residues at a temperature of 380oC - 420oC in an inert atmosphere and their products are evaluated individually: these products include pyrolysis oil, pyrolytic char, gas and water. The objective of this study was to compare the effects of the use of oils obtained by pyrolysis of Jatropha curcas as an additive for diesel in different proportions. Results: A Low Temperature Conversion (LTC) process carried out on samples of Jatropha curcas fruit and generated pyrolysis oil, pyrolyic char, gas and aqueous fractions in relative amounts of 23, 37, 16 and 14% [w/w] respectively for Jatropha curcas fruit and 19, 47, 12 and 22% [w/w] respectively for Jatropha curcas cake. The oil fractions were analyzed by FTIR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, GCMS and physicochemical analysis. The pyrolysis oil was added to final concentrations of 2, 5, 10 and 20% [w/w] to commercial diesel fuel. The density, viscosity, sulfur content and flash point of the mixtures were determined. Conclusions: The results indicated that the addition of the pyrolysis oil maintained the mixtures within the standards of the diesel directive, National Petroleum Agency (ANP no 15, of 19. 7. 2006), with the exception of the viscosity of the mixtures containing 20% pyrolysis oil.

Preparation of activated carbon derived from Jatropha curcas fruit shell by simple thermo-chemical activation and characterization of their physico-chemical properties

High surface area activated carbons were prepared by simple thermo-chemical activation of Jatropha curcas fruit shell with NaOH as a chemical activating agent. The effects of the preparation variables, which were impregnation ratio (NaOH:char), activation temperature and activation time, on the adsorption capacity of iodine and methylene blue solution were investigated. The activated carbon which had the highest iodine and methylene blue numbers was obtained by these conditions as follows: 4:1 (w/w) NaOH to char ratio, 800 °C activation temperature and 120 min activation time. Characterization of the activated carbon obtained was performed by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and nitrogen adsorption isotherm as BET. The results present that the activated carbon possesses a large apparent surface area ( S BET = 1873 m 2/g) and high total pore volume (1.312 cm 3/g) with average pore size diameter of 28.0 Å.

A Back Propagation Neural Networks for Grading <i>Jatropha curcas</i> Fruits Maturitiy

Problem statement: Jatropha curcas has the potential to become one of the world’s key energy crops. Crude vegetable oil, extracted from the seeds of the Jatropha plant, can be refined into high quality biodiesel. Traditional identification of Jatropha curcas fruits is performed by human experts. The Jatropha curcas fruit quality depends on type and size of defects as well as skin color and fruit size. Approach: This research develops a back propagation neural networks to identify the Jatropha curcas fruit maturity and grade the fruit into relevant quality category. The system is divided into two stages: The first stage is a training stage that is to extract the characteristics from the pattern. The second stages is to recognize the pattern by using the characteristics derived from the first task. Back propagation diagnosis model is used to recognition the Jatropha curcas fruits. It is ascertained for the developed system is used in recognizing the maturity of Jatropha curcas fruits. This study presents a pattern recognition system of Jatropha curcas using back propagation. Results: By using back propagation, it gave an accuracy of about 95% based on our samples which used the twenty-seven images. The results produced by neural network were found to be more accurate due to its capability to distinguished complex decision regions. Conclusion: The training data set for back propagation had 4 levels of grading i.e., raw, fruit-aged, ripe and over ripe with twenty-seven images of Jatropha curcas fruits. At the end of the training, the neural network achieved its performance function by testing with a selected set of different images. The performance of the back propagation was satisfactory when incorporated with the software tool, since there were number of errors arising in categorizing.

SPRERI experience on holistic approach to utilize all parts of Jatropha curcas fruit for energy

Freshly harvested Jatropha dried fruit contains about 35–40% shell and 60–65% seed (by weight). The fruits are 2.5 cm long, ovoid, black and have 2–3 halves. It has nearly 400–425 fruits per kg and 1580–1600 seed per kg weight. Weight of 100 seeds is about 63 g. Jatropha shells are available after de-shelling of the Jatropha fruit while Jatropha seed husks are available after decortications of Jatropha seed for oil extraction. Seed contains about 40–42% husk/hull and 58–60% kernels. The kernels have about 50% oil. If the oil is extracted by solvent method the oil recovery is more than 95% but in mechanical expeller the oil recovery is about 85% only. If 100 kg of seed is expelled by expeller it will give about 28–30 kg oil. While lot of emphasis is being given on use of bio-diesel, which is only about 17–18% of the dry fruit, not much attention is being given to utilize other components of fruit for energy purposes. At SPRERI holistic approach has been taken to utilize all components of the Jatropha fruit—shell for combustion, hull/husk for gasification, oil and bio-diesel for running CI engines, cake for production of biogas and spent slurry as manure and it has been found that all components of the Jatropha curcas fruit can be utilized efficiently for energy purposes. This paper gives detailed information on the use of different components of J. curcas fruit for energy purposes.