Environmental influence on the physico-chemical and physiological properties of Jatropha curcas seeds
Marcelo Francisco Pompelli A C , Débora Teresa da Rocha Gomes Ferreira B , Polyana Geysa da Silva Cavalcante B , Taciana de Lima Salvador B , Bety Shiue de Hsie A and Laurício Endres BA Plant Physiology Laboratory, Federal University of Pernambuco, Department of Botany, CCB, Recife, Pernambuco 50670901, Brazil.
B Plant Physiology Laboratory, Federal University of Alagoas, Maceió, Alagoas, Brazil.
C Corresponding author. Email: mpompelli@yahoo.com.br
Australian Journal of Botany 58(6) 421-427 https://doi.org/10.1071/BT10102
Submitted: 28 April 2010 Accepted: 12 July 2010 Published: 8 September 2010
Abstract
The present study investigated the influence of two Brazilian environments on the physico-chemical and physiological properties of Jatropha curcas L. (physic nut) – an oilseed plant of great potential in biodiesel production. Fruits and seeds of plants grown in the Brazilian Atlantic rainforest (AF) and in the semiarid climate of Caatinga (SA) were compared. Fruits from the SA were longer, wider and heavier than those from the AF. In contrast, the AF seeds were larger and heavier than the SA seeds. Soluble sugars, protein, relative water content and electrical conductivity of the SA seeds significantly exceeded that of the AF seeds by 28%, 23%, 32% and 94%, respectively. Seeds of the AF had a significantly greater percentage germination (17.5%) and needed less time to germinate (10%) than did the SA seeds. Shoot dry biomass of seedlings grown from the AF seeds significantly exceeded that of the SA by 18.5%. Results suggest this pattern may be due to the higher carbon storage (i.e. sugars, proteins and oil) in the AF than SA seeds. Further studies are warranted to verify whether the differences observed between the seed sources investigated in the present study could be due to varietal or biotype factors.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Alagoas (FAPEAL) and Fundação de Amparo à Ciência e Tecnologia do Estado de Pernambuco (FACEPE) for financial support for the researchers. Special thanks go to Mrs Carla Gomes Machado and Vilma Marques Ferreira for their critical reading of the manuscript and to Mrs Gilmara Martini Pompelli for logistical support for the figures and tables.
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