Chemical composition and nutritional value of jatropha (Jatropha curcas L.) leaves

Abstract

Jatropha jatropha curcas L. is considered an important biofuel plant which has limitedly distributed in
subtropical arid region because it's very sensitive to decreased temperature. Hence, therefore, the
proximate composition of mineral content, vitamins, amino acids and some nutritional components of
jatropha leaves were estimated. The results indicated that leaves had lesser concentration of chemicals
where were 1.99 % N, 0.14 % P, 1.08% K, 2.95% total carbohydrates, 12.46% protein, 2.47 mg.g-1 total
chlorophyll, 0.40 mg.g-1 carotenoids, amino acids (0.0159 mg.g-1 aspargine, 0.0306 mg.g-1 proline, 0.0127
mg.g-1 cystine and 0.0205 mg.g-1 histidine ), vitamins (0.064 mg.g-1 B1 , 0.121 mg.g-1 B2 , 0.058 mg.g-1
pantothenic acid , 0.049 mg.g-1 niacin , 0.229 mg.g-1 Inositol , 0.75 mg.g-1 α-tocopherol , 0.18 mg.g-1 γ-
tocopherol and 0.30 mg.g-1 K1), 1.29 mg.g-1 phenolic acid, 0.540 mg.g-1 flavonoids, mg.g-1 0.870 tannins
and 13.53 an oxidant ac vity. These low values may be results from the high sensitivity of plant to arid
environments, which in turn may led to some amino acids could not be detected. Therefore, it's
recommended to improve input growth factors that correlated with biochemical and physiological traits
like fertilizers, plant growth regulators, soil properties and some techniques that used pre-sowing to
prime seeds considered an effective strategy for succeeding cultivation of jatropha in arid regions as in
west Iraq.