1 Let's get Introduced With Jatropha
Jerald Tedbury edited this page 2025-01-12 17:23:10 +08:00


The Mother Nature has actually given us innumerable bounties ... some we understand of and some that are still hidden in the deep secrets waiting to be revealed and waiting to enhance our lives. One of these bounties is Jatropha, the physic nut. It is among the most popular herbs and the term jatropha curcas is really a "genus" covering some 175 plants together. The name comes from Greek words for Iatros indicating doctor and trophe meaning nutrition. So physic nuts or jatropha curcas, from the kingdom plantae is being studied extensively for it can be put to numerous usages in our lives.

To start with, Jatropha is discovering great approval all over the world as a bio-doesel. The jatropha curcas seeds can be crushed to get the oil and this can be used as a bio-fuel. The residues can be used as fertilizer or as a feed for electricity producing plants. And this enables a sustainable development. Not just the seeds, however the plant as a whole is well fit to fulfill the growing ecological issues. And why just the bio-diesel, it can be used as air travel fuel, car fuel and a host of other uses from other parts of the plants. The stems of this plant find usages in basket making, ornamental functions, and tanning leather and getting dyes. The plant even finds usage in medications for cough, balm lotions, toothpastes, cosmetics and is even used to produce great quality paper. The plant is, therefore, being put to nearly every conceivable usage possible.

Though it puts the worry of having an of energy at hands to a back burner, yet it needs to be supported and taken care of to enable a healthy plant development. And it has been observed that the jatropha curcas plants tax our water resources. So, they are grown in locations with a lot of rains. This cuts the problem on the water resources, enables water conservation and human effort too. Because the watering investment is only one time cost of time, money, effort and resources, it is being accepted as a sustainable choice worldwide.

But it is not all goodie - goodie about the plant. The Jatropha plant has toxic content. It has lectin, saponin, phorbol, toxalbumin curcin and is a trypsin inhibitor. In easy words, it can be harmful and in severe conditions, even fatal to consume untreated plant. The seeds need to be properly roasted and dealt with before being used in any consumable use. Since it has become feasible to treat the poisonous content, the plant consumption has also been increasing. To meet the increasing demands, the plant needs to be grown through various scientific techniques like in-vitro and ex-vitro propagation. This enables for rapid growth and for developing disease and bug resistant varieties of the plant. And a healthy crop will imply more fuel and better environment on the whole.

It remains in our hands to reside in harmony with the nature, and it is our options that figure out the result of the interaction we have with the nature. If we select environment friendly items, we enhance our lives. So, selecting jatropha curcas can be the initial step in improving the wealth called environment.