Physic nut

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Physic nut
Jatropha curcas1 henning.jpg

Physician nut ( Jatropha curcas )

Systematics
Order : Malpighiales (Malpighiales)
Family : Spurge Family (Euphorbiaceae)
Subfamily : Crotonoideae
Tribe : Jatropheae
Genre : Jatropha
Type : Physic nut
Scientific name
Jatropha curcas
L.

The physic nut also physic nut ( Jatropha curcas ) ( English Physic Nut, Barbados Nut ; French Grand Medicinier ) is a species of plant in the genus Jatropha from the family of the milkweed family (Euphorbiaceae). The name " black nugget ", which is also used, is ambiguous, as it is also used for the common nugget ( Strychnos nux-vomica ) and the entire genus of the nubes ( Strychnos ). The botanical name also refers to its earlier medicinal use as a therapeutic agent .

Often the physic nut is also simply referred to as jatropha after the generic name.

Jatropha curcas seeds
Jatropha curcas development of the fruit

description

The physic nut is a monoecious , succulent shrub or small tree up to 8 meters high, it has a taproot that extends up to 5 meters deep. Its branches, which contain a slightly milky, pink-colored sap , are covered by peeling bark . The bark on the old trunk is reddish-brown to grayish and smooth to slightly cracked, the bark of younger shoots is greenish-yellow to gray. The trunk diameter is about 20-50 cm.

The 8 to 16 cm long stalks formed, broad-shaped and three to seven-lobed, almost bare leaves are about 10-16 cm long and wide. The base is more or less heart-shaped or arrow-shaped, the tips of the individual lobes are rounded or pointed to pointed, the leaf margins are whole. The stipules are tiny and fall off early. Young, freshly unfolded leaves are sometimes reddish to dark red, in the dry season the leaves turn yellow and fall off. The leaves are poisonous, the veins are palmate with five to seven veins.

The multiple branched inflorescences (the panicles ) usually form flat heads. The male and female, five-fold flowers are separated from each other in the inflorescence, the female are at the apex of the inflorescence, the more numerous male flowers occupy subordinate positions. Occasionally there are also hermaphrodite flowers. The female flowers open slightly before or at the same time as the male flowers. The smaller male flowers have 3 mm long sepals , 6 mm long, half fused and inside, in the lower part hairy petals and eight to ten stamens in two circles, with, in the inner circle, partially or completely fused stamens. The somewhat larger female flowers have 5 mm long sepals and 6 mm long, free-standing and inside, in the lower part hairy petals and about ten short staminodes. All the petals and sepals are yellowish, with five nectaries at the base of the flower .

The dreifächerige, consisting of two or three carpels, bald ovary is upper constant, each with a anatropous ovule per subject, he has three short pencils with eye-catching, two-lobed scars . The 3 × 2 cm large, spherical, three-chambered, initially green capsule fruits then turn light yellow and black-brown until fully ripe. They release ellipsoidal, on average about 1.7 × 1.2 cm in size and about 7-9 mm thick, blackish, lightly speckled, speckled seeds with small caruncula (oil bodies). The whitish seed kernels contain about 46-58% fatty oils , the proportion of the woody and hard seed coat in the dry matter of the seed is about 35-45%. The thousand grain mass of the entire seeds is about 400–700 grams. The proportion of fruit peel is around 35–40%.

Pollination is carried out by insects , e.g. B. honey bees, wasps, flies and ants as well as moths.

The number of chromosomes is 2n = 22, less often 44.

ingredients

The entire seeds with shell contain fatty oil (approx. 23–35%, contains mainly linoleic acid , oleic acid , palmitic acid ), proteins (13–17%, including lectins such as curcin I and II and a hemagglutinine ), 4–11% carbohydrates , Diterpene ester , β-sitosterol-β-D-glucoside , dulcitol .

gallery

  • inflorescence

  • Female flower

  • Male flower

  • Unripe, green and ripe, black fruits

  • Fruit and seeds

  • Large physic nut tree

toxicity

The plant is considered highly poisonous.

Main active ingredients: The plant contains a caustic latex . The seeds also contain the very poisonous toxalbumin curcin, which is similar to ricin and becomes ineffective when heated above 50 ° C.

Symptoms of poisoning: Laxative, seed extracts have a dampening effect on the isolated heart in animal experiments, lead to relaxation and paralysis of the isolated intestine, lower blood pressure, cause polypnea , followed by apnea , which leads to death.

The seeds cause flatulence, vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness, unconsciousness, collapse and death, especially in children.

Roasted, the seeds are considered edible, as the toxins are destroyed by roasting.

Effects on the skin and mucous membranes: The milk sap causes an inflammatory reaction on the skin and mucous membranes.

Applications: Formerly widely used in folk medicine as a drastic laxative. The drug was also used for skin diseases (scabies, eczema, herpes), as an liniment for rheumatism and worm infestation , and to trigger an abortion . In South America , India and West Africa the seeds are used as fish poison, in Africa also as rat poison.

distribution

The natural range of the species is in tropical America , in the Caribbean and from Mexico to Chile . From there it was brought to Asia (India, Philippines , Malaysia ) and Africa by Portuguese and Dutch seafarers .

Cultivation and Use

cultivation

The physic nut is very robust, frugal and not very susceptible to disease. As they go through their succulence also withstands prolonged drought well and because of their toxic hardly eaten by animals juice, it is in tropical countries an ideal plant for reforestation barren lands or for reforestation due to drought or soil erosion abandoned agricultural land . It is often used as a protective hedge around other crops.

The jatropha oil (physic nut oil, medicinal nut oil, curcas oil and hell oil ) obtained from the seeds is of great economic interest . Raw it can be used as lamp oil or as fuel for cooking. It is processed into soap and candles. The after extraction remaining of the oil press cake is a very good fertilizer is.

An as yet unsolved problem is the toxins contained in the seeds and the oil obtained from them. Since these have a sharp, burning taste and have a drastic laxative and nauseating effect, the oil is not suitable for consumption . Attempts to remove the toxins using a method practicable in tropical countries have so far been unsuccessful. New hope is therefore placed in a Jatropha species discovered in Mexico, the Jatropha peltata , which does not contain the toxins or only in extremely low concentrations.

Jatropha cultivation can make a positive economic and ecological contribution, especially in regions with poor infrastructure:

  • Since Jatropha can also be grown on low-yielding soils, the plant does not compete directly with areas that e.g. B. can be used for the production of food ( competition for space ). The cultivation of jatropha can provide farmers with an additional source of income.
  • Because the oil is inedible, the notorious conflict of “tank or plate” (“food or fuel” - competition for use ) does not arise with Jatropha - if it is grown on appropriate soils.
  • Jatropha nuts can be stored for a longer period of time without any shelf life problems and do not have to be processed immediately after harvesting (in contrast to palm oil, for example).
  • Jatropha oil can be used for personal use as a direct substitute for diesel and (after simple modification of the engine) can be used in vehicles and power generators. It can also be used for cooking or as an energy source for lamps.
  • Jatropha oil is CO 2 -neutral and burns odorless.
  • The jatropha plant can contribute to the regeneration of soil quality. The press cake (Jatropha Seed Press Cake, JSPC) produced during oil pressing can also be used as a very effective organic fertilizer .
  • However, the water consumption is extremely high compared to other energy crops.

The World Bank now supports the cultivation of Jatropha curcas under four conditions. B. can be given in India:

  • no use of fertile land
  • low transport costs
  • reasonable wages
  • Avoidance of petroleum imports

The seeds have an oil content of over 45%, which with a cetane number of around 40-50 ( biodiesel from rapeseed oil has around 54) is a very effective, technically usable vegetable oil . The cultivation is therefore particularly profitable, not only for subsistence farming (oil production for personal use), but also for resale on the international market.

Use as fuel

The numbers in the following table are taken from the online version of the Römpp chemistry dictionary.

property Jatropha methyl ester EU standard
Density at 15 ° Ct [g · L −1 ] 884 860-900
Viscosity at 40 ° C [mm 2 · s −1 ] 4.9 3.5-5.0
Flash point [° C] 169 > 101
Iodine number [g · 100 g −1 ] (unsaturated V.) 98 <120
Cetane number 58-62 > 51
Phosphorus content [mg kg −1 ] <1 <10
Sulfur content [mg kg −1 ] <1 <10
Jatropha plantation in the arid west of Paraguay's Chaco

A special interest is the processing into "biodiesel" and especially cold-pressed vegetable oil , which saves financially weak tropical countries in particular the import of expensive petroleum-based fuels because it can be used directly in specially adapted engines. In cooperation with the Society for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) and the University of Stuttgart-Hohenheim , the cultivation of this plant is being promoted in a research and production project in Gujarat, India . Diesel engines that meet the Euro 3 emissions standard can be operated with the fuel produced there .

On 9 January 2008, the shared Bayer AG , the American agricultural company Archer Daniels Midland Co. and the automotive group Daimler AG with, in cooperation Jatropha curcas as a supplier of input materials for industrial production of biodiesel research and develop to want. In this context, the companies want to define binding production and quality standards for biodiesel made from jatropha.

As part of a research project, Boeing and Air New Zealand have developed an aircraft fuel that consists of half physician nut oil and half kerosene . The first flight using this fuel took place on December 30, 2008. A jumbo jet was used for this, in which a Rolls-Royce RB211 engine was operated with the new fuel. The fuel has a freezing point of −47 ° C and a flash point of 38 ° C and thus has similar properties to the most widely used jet A-1 kerosene . Other airlines also planned to carry out test flights.

The Lufthansa planned for 2011 to use the fuel mixture on the Hamburg-Frankfurt eight times daily. After six months of testing and in the hope of a funding program from the federal government in 2013, the first European scheduled flight with biofuel took place on September 15, 2014. Lufthansa announced that it was working on building a supply chain.

In the 2010s, interest in alternative aviation fuels based on physic nuts waned again. In view of the expected growth in air traffic, high water requirements in cultivation and a high CO 2 footprint, transport scientists do not expect biofuel to make a major contribution to climate protection, but rather classify it as a “technology myth”.

Discussion about Jatropha cultivation

Due to the positive effects of jatropha cultivation, the subject receives a high degree of attention and support from international development policy and local politics. In fact, the cultivation of the jatropha plant can release many positive effects of an ecological, economic (and social) nature, but also possible negative effects should not be neglected. For example, the argument that jatropha does not compete with the cultivation of food naturally does not apply if the plant is sown in areas that are also suitable for food cultivation due to the quality of the soil. An attractive purchase price for jatropha oil, for example, drives many farmers in some regions of Africa to switch from food to jatropha cultivation and thereby further contribute to local food shortages.

The plant, like any other species, is susceptible to pests and diseases, which can be particularly problematic in larger monocultures . In addition, Jatropha is a wild plant, the exact properties of which in terms of harvest optimization, yield maximization, etc. are still in great need of research - scientific research is still in its infancy with regard to the breeding of seeds and plants.

The cultivation on areas not suitable for arable farming is also criticized, because there are also some conflicts with uses by the local population or nomadic ethnic groups on these areas. Amnesty International describes corresponding conflicts with established forms of extensive agriculture from regions of India, for example.

The Swiss newspaper Die Wochenzeitung (WOZ) analyzed the advantages and disadvantages: The meager yield per hectare and the high energy expenditure for artificial fertilizers and the further processing of the seeds make the panacea appear doubtful. “You have to see jatropha as a plant for local applications on a small scale, for lamp oils, soaps and the like. It makes a lot of sense, ”a scientist is quoted as saying. "But on an industrial scale, things can quickly go in an undesired direction."

In the European Union (EU), the proportion of biofuel is to be increased significantly over the next few years. In order to ensure sustainability in the production of biofuels, corresponding specifications were issued in 2009 with the EU Directive 2009/28 / EC (Renewable Energy Directive). With the Biomass Electricity Sustainability Ordinance (BioSt-NachV) and Biofuel Sustainability Ordinance (Biokraft-NachV), which came into force in full by 2010 , these requirements were implemented in German law. Criteria for environmental and climate compatibility, for social aspects and others are included and are intended to address undesirable developments in biofuel production, e.g. B. from jatropha, avoid. With certification systems for biomass , the traceability of the origin from non-EU countries should be ensured.

Current meaning and perspective

In 2008 there were over 900,000 hectares of Jatropha cultivation area in 242 projects. 85% were found in Asia, others in Africa and South America. The annual investments averaged 0.5 to 1 billion US $. At that time, an expansion to almost 5 million hectares by 2010 and to around 13 million hectares by 2015 was forecast. The initiative for projects came primarily from governments, but oil companies and energy companies were also increasingly involved . However, these growth expectations were far from being fulfilled. After 2008 and the beginning of the global financial crisis , fewer projects were launched. Many projects failed. In mid-2011 the global cultivation area was 1.2 million hectares. Of this, 860,000 hectares alone were attributable to five very large projects in Asia.

In 2008, 45% of the areas under cultivation were previously agricultural areas for the non-food sector. 5% were formerly secondary and 0.3% primary forest areas . Only 1.2% had previously been used for food production. Irrigation takes place on around half of the area.

Potential cultivation areas on which low impacts on the environment but also low yields (0.25 to 0.75 t of dried seeds per hectare) would be expected make up around 300 million hectares worldwide. If one also includes areas with higher yields with more serious environmental damage, the cultivation potential is up to approx. 2,500 million hectares with a potential yield of up to almost 6 million tons of dried seeds annually.

Cultivation as an ornamental plant

Held as an ornamental plant in Central Europe , the physic nut needs a warm and full sun position. The vegetation period lasts from April to October. When the leaves wither in autumn, the plant must be kept warm (at least 15 ° C) and dry until spring. If watered in winter, the plant will deteriorate or rot.

literature

  • Carl von Linné: Species Plantarum . (Ed.1) 1: 1006, 1753.
  • Alph. Steger, J. van Loon: The fatty oil of the seeds of Jatropha curcas. In: Fats and Soaps. 49 (11), 1942, pp. 769-840, doi : 10.1002 / lipi.19420491103 .
  • PW Gerbens-Leenes u. a .: The Water Footprint of Energy from Biomass. In: Ecological Economics. 68, 4, 2009, pp. 1052-1056, doi : 10.1016 / j.ecolecon.2008.07.013 .
  • J. Heller: Physic nut Jatropha curcas L. IPK, Gatersleben 1996, ISBN 92-9043-278-0 , (PDF)
  • ND Prajapati, Tarun Prajapati (Ed.): A handbook of Jatropha curcas Linn. (physic nut). Asian Medicinal Plants and Health Care Trust, 2005, ISBN 81-89070-05-3 .
  • Federal Ministry for Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection, special issue 294: Possibilities of decontamination of "Undesirable substances according to Annex 5 of the Feed Ordinance (2006)". 2006.
  • Michael Schwelien: Fuel from the poisonous plant. In: The time. December 31, 2004.
  • Ranty Islam: Indian nut oil is said to power cars. In: The time. December 2, 2006.
  • J. Latschan: Sustainable energy: Risks and opportunities of biomass for biofuel. The case of Jatropha cultivation in India . Center for Sustainability Management, Lüneburg 2009. ( CSM Lüneburg , 2.4 MB; PDF)
  • Lutz Roth, Max Daunderer, Karl Kormann: Poisonous plants plant poisons. 6th revised edition, Nikol-Verlag, Hamburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-86820-009-6 .
  • Ingrid and Peter Schönfelder : The new book of medicinal plants. Franckh-Kosmos Verlag, 2011, ISBN 978-3-440-12932-6 .

Web links

Commons : Physician Nut ( Jatropha curcas )  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jatropha curcas at Tropicos.org. In: IPCN Chromosome Reports . Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis
  2. ↑ Wolfgang Blaschek (Ed.) U. a .: Hager's Handbook of Pharmaceutical Practice . 5th edition, Volume 2: Drugs A – K , Springer, 1998, ISBN 3-540-61618-7 , p. 889.
  3. ↑ Joachim Heller: Physic Nut, Jatropha Curcas L. IPGRI, 1996, ISBN 978-92-9043-278-4 , p. 16.
  4. ^ Wilhelm Halden, Adolf Grün : Analysis of fats and waxes. Second volume, Springer, 1929, ISBN 978-3-642-89318-6 , pp. 106 f.
  5. ↑ R. Brieger, O. Dalmer u. a .: Special analysis. First part, Springer, 1932, ISBN 978-3-7091-5261-4 , p. 512.
  6. ↑ Entry on Jatropha curcas. In: Römpp Online . Georg Thieme Verlag, accessed on July 27, 2014.
  7. ↑ Jumbo jet with vegetable oil in the tank on NZZ Online from December 30, 2008.
  8. ↑ Air New Zealand tests Jatropha kerosene on SPIEGEL Online from November 13, 2008.
  9. ↑ Air New Zealand Jet Flies on Jatropha Biofuel on Environment News Service .
  10. ↑ Boeing and Air New Zealand: Test flight with biofuels in December. on airliners.de, from November 12, 2008 ( Memento from January 15, 2018 in the Internet Archive ).
  11. ↑ Both flight recorders from the crashed Airbus recovered from airliners.de on December 1, 2008 ( Memento from January 15, 2018 in the Internet Archive ).
  12. ↑ heise.de: Aviation fuel from the field from December 8, 2008.
  13. ↑ TAM conducts first biokerosene flight in Latin America. on: tam.com.br, from April 27, 2010 (Portuguese) ( Memento from November 2, 2013 in the Internet Archive ).
  14. ↑ The aviation fuel will soon be coming from the field. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung . May 8, 2011, p. 38.
  15. ↑ Lufthansa confirms its pioneering role for alternative aviation fuels ( memento of December 13, 2014 in the Internet Archive ).
  16. ↑ P. Peeters, J. Higham, D. Kutzner, S. Cohen, S. Gössling: Are technology myths stalling aviation climate policy? In: Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment . tape 44 , 2016, p. 30–42 , doi : 10.1016 / j.trd.2016.02.004 .
  17. ↑ Manshi Asher: Small farmers as guinea pigs . ( Memento from August 26, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) In: “Amnesty - Magazine of Human Rights”. September 2008. Published by Amnesty International, Swiss Section.
  18. ↑ The Disenchanted Nut. In: The weekly newspaper . February 21, 2008.
  19. ↑ Ordinance on requirements for a sustainable production of liquid biomass for electricity generation - (Biomass electricity sustainability ordinance - BioSt-NachV) ( Federal Law Gazette I p. 2174 ).
  20. ↑ Ordinance on requirements for sustainable production of biofuels (Biofuel Sustainability Ordinance -Biokraft-NachV) (PDF; 168 kB), dated September 30, 2009 Federal Law Gazette I 3182, accessed on March 9, 2010.
  21. ↑ a b Archived copy ( memento of the original from July 7, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. : GEXSI Global Market Study on Jatropha ( Memento of the original from November 28, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Study by GEXSI and the World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF) on the current status of global jatropha cultivation, with several case studies, from May 2008, accessed on March 9, 2010. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.jatropha-platform.org @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.jatropha-platform.org
  22. ↑ Nepomuk Wahl u. a .: Insights into Jatropha Projects Worldwide . Key facts & figures from a global survey. Ed .: University of Lüneburg. December 2012, Introduction, 6.1 Main findings, doi : 10.2139 / ssrn.2254823 ( (PDF) ).
  23. ↑ Bin-Lelin Zhengguoli et al. a .: System Approach for Evaluating the Potential Yield and Plantation of Jatropha curcas L. on a Global Scale . In: Environ. Sci. Technol. tape 44 , no. 6 , 2010, doi : 10.1021 / es903004f .