JETROPHA; A PLANT THAT CURES AND PRODUCES FUEL
Jatropha curcas is a multipurpose plant with many attributes and considerable potential. It is a tropical plant that can be grown in low to high rainfall areas and can be used to reclaim land, as a hedge and/or as a commercial crop. Thus, growing it could provide employment, improve the environment and enhance the quality of rural life.
The plant produces many useful products, especially the seed, from which oil can be extracted; this oil has similar properties to palm oil. 1 acre gives from 1500 to 3000 liters of oil, which runs a 2 KVA genset for a year.
Jatropha oil may be used directly in some diesel engines, without converting it into biodiesel. It has molluscicidal properties against the vector snails of the Schistosoma parasite that causes bilharzia.
In the recent years, Jatropha has become famous primarily for the production of biodiesel; besides this it has several medicinal applications, too.
Most parts of this plant are used for the treatment of various human and veterinary ailments.
The white latex serves as a disinfectant in mouth infections in children.
The latex of Jatropha contains alkaloids including Jatrophine, Jatropham and curcain with anti-cancerous properties.
It is also used externally against skin diseases, piles and sores among the domestic livestock.
The leaves contain apigenin, vitexin and isovitexin etc. which along with other factors enable them to be used against malaria, rheumatic and muscular pains.
Antibiotic activity of Jatropha has been observed against organisms including Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli.
The roots are known to contain an antidote against snake venom. The root extract also helps to check bleeding from gums.
The soap prepared from Jatropha oil is efficient against buttons. It
is made by adding a solution of sodium hydroxide (caustic soda) to jatropha oil. This simple technology has turned soap making into a viable small-scale rural enterprise appropriate to many rural areas of developing countries. Jatropha soap is valued as a medicinal soap for treating skin ailments. On the one hand, making jatropha soap can be highly profitable, with 4.7 kg of soap produced from 13 litres of jatropha
However, there are some chemical compounds including curcin (an alkaloid) in some species of Jetropha seeds that make it unfit for common human consumption without further processing.
