The Quality of Seeds and Crude Oil from Various Genotypes of Jatropha curcas L. Plant as a Biodiesel Source

Jatropha curcas L. is a tropical woody shrub that has a big potential for biodiesel resources. The Crude Jatropha Oil (CJO) content is about 30–40% in the seed, and 40–50% in the kernel. CJO is obtained from the extraction process of dry seeds by mechanically and chemically. Mechanical extraction by pressing is easier and cheaper since does not require a complicated technology. The aims of this research were to analyse the seeds quality and CJO based on various hybrid of J. curcas as a source of biodiesel. The materials used were dry seeds from 4 genotypes of J. curcas hybrid plant from Kedung Pengaron, Pasuruan District, East Java Province, namely G5-A, G5-B, G6-A and G6-B. This research consisted of 2 steps, started from determining the J. curcas L. seeds quality (water and oil content) followed by CJO production and oil analysis (acid number, free fatty acid (FFA) content, saponification number, ester number, and water content). Completely Randomized Design with 3 repetitions was applied to obtain the data. The different genotype of J. curcas L. did not show significant differences on the seeds oil content, but showed significant differences on the water content. The different genotype of CJO was also significantly different in what concerns the acid number, FFA, and water content. The genotype G6-A of J. curcas L. plant can be considered to be developed as a promising breed based on the property indicators as a source of biodiesel.