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Critical Reviews in Biotechnology, 2011; 31(1): 5364

2011 Informa Healthcare USA, Inc.


ISSN 0738-8551 print/ISSN 1549-7801 online
DOI: 10.3109/07388551.2010.487185

REVIEW ARTICLE

Biodiesel production from Jatropha curcas: a critical review


Rahmath Abdulla, Eng Seng Chan, and Pogaku Ravindra

Centre of Materials and Minerals, School of Engineering and Information Technology, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota
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Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia

Abstract
The fuel crisis and environmental concerns, mainly due to global warming, have led researchers to consider the
importance of biofuels such as biodiesel. Vegetable oils, which are too viscous to be used directly in engines, are
converted into their corresponding methyl or ethyl esters by a process called transesterification. With the recent
debates on food versus fuel, non-edible oils, such as Jatropha curcas, are emerging as one of the main contenders
for biodiesel production. Much research is still needed to explore and realize the full potential of a green fuel from J.
curcas. Upcoming projects and plantations of Jatropha in countries such as India, Malaysia, and Indonesia suggest a
promising future for this plant as a potential biodiesel feedstock. Many of the drawbacks associated with chemical
catalysts can be overcome by using lipases for enzymatic transesterification. The high cost of lipases can be overcome,
to a certain extent, by immobilization techniques. This article reviews the importance of the J. curcas plant and
describes existing research conducted on Jatropha biodiesel production. The article highlights areas where further
research is required and relevance of designing an immobilized lipase for biodiesel p roduction is discussed.
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Keywords: Lipase, enzymatic transesterification, chemical transesterification, biodiesel, Jatropha, oil extraction

Introduction
Biodiesel, which is mainly produced from vegetable oils,
The fast rate of fossil fuel depletion and the global food cri- reduces the green house effect. The environmental dam-
sis are two major problems that present an uncertain pic- age caused by sulfuric acid is also reduced since the sulfur
ture in recent times (Reddy and Sudheer, 2010). This has content of vegetable oils is close to zero (Vicente etal., 1998;
given rise to widespread repercussions worldwide. Out of Srivastava and Prasad, 2000; Fukuda etal., 2001; Soumanou
the various strategies for sustainable biofuel production, and Bornscheuer, 2003). Edible oils such as soybean oil,
biodiesel occupies the top ladder. Biodiesel, which is made rapeseed oil, palm oil, and so on are being used for biod-
from renewable sources, consists of the simple alkyl esters iesel production (Sharma etal., 2008). However, develop-
of fatty acids (Berchmans and Hirata, 2008). Its properties ing countries having dearth of edible oil for consumption
are close to diesel fuels, and therefore biodiesel becomes cannot afford to use these oils for biodiesel production.
a strong candidate to replace diesel fuels (Srivastava and The non-edible oils, such as Jatropha, microalgae, neem,
Prasad, 2000). With the growing concern for protecting the karanja (Pongamia), rubber seed, mahua, silk cotton tree,
environment, renewable fuels such as biodiesel should be and so on, are easily available in developing countries and
focused as a future fuel. Hence, researchers and scien- are very economical compared with edible oils (Demirbas,
tific organizations worldwide have focused on the devel- 2009). Among these, Jatropha curcas, a multipurpose plant
opment of biodiesel and the optimization of processes to with many attributes and considerable potential, is gain-
meet the standards and specifications needed for the fuel ing importance for biodiesel production (Divakara etal.,
to be used commercially on diesel engines (Sharma etal., 2010). Biodiesel can be produced from J. curcas either by
2008). Lower toxicity, biodegradability, substantial reduc- chemical or by enzymatic transesterification. Although
tion in sulfur oxide (SOx) gases, carbon monoxide (CO), chemical transesterification is faster in terms of reaction
polyaromatic hydrocarbons, smoke, and particulate mat- rate, the chemical method has several drawbacks, such as
ter are the advantages of biodiesel over conventional fuels. recovery of glycerol, purification of biodiesel, an energy

Address for Correspondence: Dr. Pogaku Ravindra, School of Engineering and Information Technology, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, 88999,
Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. E-mail: dr_ravindra@hotmail.com
(Received 07 December 2009; revised 17 February 2010; accepted 14 April 2010)

53
54 Rahmath Abdulla etal.
intensive process, and treatment of wastes (Rathore and attains a height of 35 m, but under favorable conditions, it
Madras, 2007). In contrast, enzymes allow synthesis of can grow to a height of 8 or 10 m. The branches of J. curcas
specific alkyl esters; no purification is required for biod- contain latex. Being drought tolerant, it is easy to establish
iesel; there is easy recovery of high-grade glycerol, less and grows well on both arid and semi-arid conditions. It
treatment of waste, and transesterification of oils with high can prevent soil erosion and can even grow on rock crev-
free fatty acids (FFA) (Nelson etal., 1996). Thus, enzymatic ices. Jatropha grows well on marginal soils with low nutri-
transesterification is a promising alternative to overcome ent content (Openshaw, 2000). Since the leaves and stems
many of the drawbacks associated with chemical methods are toxic to animals, it is not browsed, but after treatment it
and it is more environment-friendly. In other words, we can be used as a nutritious animal feed. In short, J. curcas
can say that enzymes (lipases) are potential replacements can be classed as a value-added plant because of its easy
for the conventional catalysts of biodiesel production. The propagation and rapid growth, medicinal value, the high
main obstacle in this method is still the cost of the enzyme, oil content of its seeds, drought tolerance, bushy nature,
which can be overcome to a certain extent by immobiliza- short gestation period, and multiple uses of various plant
tion. For large-scale production of biodiesel from J. curcas, parts (Jones and Miller, 1992; Franscis etal., 2005; Kumar
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more research is still needed in the area of enzyme immo- and Sharma, 2008). J. curcas can also be used for reclama-
bilization, modeling of immobilized bioreactors, and the tion of waste lands (Achten et al., 2007). These are some
technical ways to improve biodiesel quality. of the potential benefits of J. curcas (Gubitz et al., 1999;
Openshaw, 2000; Pramanik, 2003; Kumar and Sharma,
2008; Tapanes etal., 2008; Jefferson etal., 2009; Divakara
Why J. curcas for biodiesel?
etal., 2010). The seed kernels of J. curcas L. contain 4060%
A variety of feedstock is available throughout the (w/w) oil (Makkar etal., 1997) indicating that it is a good
world for the production of biodiesel. Biodiesel can be raw material for biodiesel production (Foidl et al., 1996;
obtained from vegetable oils, animal fats, waste cooking Makkar etal., 1997).
oils, and so on (Al-Zuhair, 2007). Some of the frequently In general, the seeds of the physic nut are toxic to
used vegetable oils for biodiesel synthesis are sunflower humans and animals. Curcin, a toxic protein isolated
oil (Soumanou and Bornscheuer, 2003), canola oil from the seeds, was found to inhibit protein synthesis in
(Chang etal., 2005), soybean oil (Wei etal., 2004), palm in vitro studies. The high concentration of phorbol esters
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oil (Al-Zuhair etal., 2007), and Jatropha oil (Shah etal., present in the seed has been identified as responsible for
2004). The choice of a biodiesel crop depends mainly on the toxicity (Adolf etal., 1984; Makkar etal., 1997).The oil
geographical distribution; thus soybeans for the United also contains some anti-nutritional factors and thus is
States, rapeseed sunflower oils for Europe, palm oil for rendered unsuitable for cooking purposes (Makkar etal.,
Southeast Asia, and Jatropha for India (Knothe, 2002). 1997; Gubitz et al., 1999). The fact that this oil cannot
Since there is a global crisis for food, non-edible oils are be used for nutritional purposes without detoxification
preferred sources for biodiesel production in the devel- makes it attractive as a non-edible vegetable oil feedstock
oping world (Bordoloi and Sarmah, 2008). Shah and in the oleochemical industries (biodiesel, fatty acids,
Gupta (2007) have put forward the importance of using soap, surfactants, detergents, etc.). Currently, J. curcas can
Jatropha oil as a preferred biodiesel source, since edible produce 2000L/ha oil per annum (Azam etal., 2005).
oils are not in surplus supply. Nevertheless, very few Jatropha oil contains 24.60% of crude protein, 47.25%
research publications can be found with regard to biod- crude fat, and has a moisture content of 5.54% (Akintayo,
iesel production from this important green fuel plant. 2004). The fatty acid composition of Jatropha oil varies from
Much attention and further research should be focused one country to another. Saturated fatty acids of Jatropha
on this plant to help solve the energy crisis problem. oil contain mainly palmitic acid (16:0) at 14.1% and stearic
The genus Jatropha, which belongs to Euphorbiaceae acid (18:0) at 6.7%. The unsaturated fatty acids include
family, contains 175 known species. The genus name oleic acid (18:1) at 47%, and linoleic acid (18:2) at 31.6%.
Jatropha is derived from Greek words jatros (doctor) and This oil, with a high percentage of monounsaturated oleic
trophe (food) that enfolds its medicinal uses. The first com- and polyunsaturated linoleic acid, has a semidrying prop-
mercial application of this wonderful plant was reported erty and this type of oil has been found to be an efficient
from Lisbon where Jatropha oil, imported from Cape Verde, substitute for diesel fuel (Augustus etal., 2002).
was used for producing soap and lighting of lamps. Some of The complete removal of the toxins from the oil is a
the oil-yielding types are Jatropha pohliana, Jatropha gos- necessary step before it can be utilized on a commercial
sypiifolia, Jatropha multifida, and J. curcas. Out of these, J. basis. Conventionally, oil is extracted from seeds by a
curcas has gained importance for several reasons. Linnaeus mechanical press. New techniques, such as enzyme-as-
was the first to name the physic nut J. curcas L. It is a native sisted three-phase partitioning (TPP) (Shah etal., 2004)
of tropical America, but now thrives in many tropical and and the aqueous enzymatic method of oil extraction
subtropical parts of the world, especially throughout Africa (Shah etal., 2005), are now available. Improper handling
and Asia. Its distribution was conducted by the Portuguese and inappropriate storage leads to an increase in water
ships via the Cape Verda islands and Guinea Bissau (Heller, content, which can cause oil deterioration. Jatropha oil
1996). J.curcas is a small tree or large shrub, which normally contains 14% FFA, which is far beyond the limit of the

 Critical Reviews in Biotechnology


Biodiesel production from Jatropha curcas 55
1% FFA level that can be converted to biodiesel using an of extraction such as mechanical pressing (Eijck and
alkaline catalyst (Kumar etal., 2007). There is a need for Romijn, 2008), aqueous oil extraction (Shah etal., 2005),
a pretreatment step prior to chemical transesterification the TPP method (Shah et al., 2004), and supercritical
in order to reduce the amount of FFA in the oil. During carbon dioxide extraction (Yan etal., 2005). Mechanical
enzymatic transesterification of Jatropha oil, lipase con- pressing is the conventional oil extraction method and is
verts the FFA to biodiesel. Therefore, the non-edible veg- applied on a small scale and in rural areas. For example,
etable oil of J. curcas L. is a promising candidate for the oil is extracted by using a manual ram press and electric
commercial production of biodiesel since it has both the screw press in Tanzania (Eijck and Romijn, 2008). The
physicochemical and the performance characteristics main drawback of mechanical pressing is that only a
compared with conventional diesel to facilitate continu- small amount of oil can be extracted from the seeds. In
ous operation without many changes in the design of the other words, huge quantities of seeds would be required
diesel engines (Sayyar etal., 2009). to obtain the desired volumes of oil. For example, 3kg of
seeds are needed to obtain 1L of oil using the Sayari oil
expeller of German design (Eijck and Romijn, 2008).The
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J. curcas oil extraction theoretical maximum amount of oil in Jatropha seed is


The use of non-edible vegetable oils for biodiesel produc- 44% (44g oil per 100g kernels) (Shah etal., 2005).
tion is significant because of the increasing demand for Recently, aqueous oil extraction has emerged as a prom-
edible oils as food (Pramanik, 2003). Jatropha is of inter- ising tool for oil extraction from plants (Rosenthal et al.,
est to the investors mainly because of the seed oil char- 2001). Aqueous oil extraction has been reported to be an
acteristics. The oil is potentially valuable because of the environment-friendly oil extraction technique that has sat-
properties such as low acidity, better oxidation stability isfactorily given higher oil yields. Ultrasonication for 5min
compared with soybean oil, less viscosity compared with followed by aqueous enzymatic oil extraction has given
castor oil, good cold properties compared with palm oil, a maximum yield of 74% oil (Shah etal., 2005). Since this
and less processing cost compared with corn ethanol method is environment-friendly, the reaction does not pro-
(Tapanes etal., 2008). In addition, Jatropha oil is odorless duce harmful volatile organic compounds that could lead
and colorless when fresh, it turns yellow on standing, and to atmospheric pollution. However, the main drawback is
it is a slow drying oil. The oil content of the seed varies the long process time required for the enzymes to liberate
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from 30 to 50% by weight and from the kernel it ranges the oil bodies. Lack of commercial availability of particular
from 45 to 60%. The presence of phorbol esters and curcin enzymes used by the researchers is also noted as another
in the seeds and oil are toxic, but the oil is still suitable disadvantage of this extraction process (Shah etal., 2005).
for the production of biodiesel. The fatty acid composi- In another method, referred to as the enzyme-assisted
tion of Jatropha oil consists of myristic, palmitic, stearic, TPP method, a combination with sonication and enzyme
arachidic, oleic, and linoleic acids (Table 1). J. curcas has treatment with a commercial fungal protease resulted in a
been referred to as green gold for the biodiesel industry yield of 97% after 2h of reaction time (Shah etal., 2004). The
since it has been recognized around the world as a poten- advantages of this method include easy performance and
tial plant that could replace petroleum-based diesel. scale up and lower reaction times. However, the high cost
The oil extracted from this plant is renewable, clean, and of the enzyme and high-energy input for sonication can
safer to use. The carbon dioxide emissions from Jatropha pose economic obstacles. The physicochemical properties
biodiesel are about 78% lesser than those from petro- of J. curcas oil are shown in Table 2.
leum-based diesel. This in turn makes Jatropha biodiesel Jatropha oil has also been extracted using supercritical
superior to regular diesel fuel (Pan etal., 2005). carbon dioxide methods. In one such study by Yan etal.
After harvesting the seeds, oil has to be extracted and (2005), a yield of 37.45% oil was obtained. The conditions
this can be later processed and refined or can also be were an extraction pressure of 43MPa, a temperature of
used as crude oil. During seed processing to extract the 45C, 20kg/h carbon dioxide flow rate, and 1.3h of reac-
oil, the seedcake is left behind. There are various methods tion time. A yield of 43.51% oil was obtained when using

Table 1. Fatty acid composition of crude Jatropha curcas oil (Berchmans and Hirata, 2008).
Fatty acid Formula Systemic name Structurea wt%
Myristic C14H28O2 Tetradecanoic 14:0 00.1
Palmitic C16H32O2 Hexadecanoic 16:0 14.115.3
Palmitoleic C16H30O2 cis-9-Hexadecanoic 16:1 01.3
Stearic C18H36O2 Octadecanoic 18:0 3.79.8
Oleic C18H34O2 cis-9-Octadecanoic 18:1 34.345.8
Linoleic C18H32O2 cis-9,cis-12-Octadecadianoic 18:2 29.044.2
Linolenic C18H30O2 cis-6,cis-9,cis-12-Octadecatrienoic 18:3 00.3
Arachidic C20H40O2 Eicosanoic 20:0 00.3
Behenic C22H44O2 Docosanoic 22:0 00.2
xx:y indicates xx carbons in the fatty acid chain with y double bonds.
a

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56 Rahmath Abdulla etal.

Table 2. Physicochemical properties of Jatropha curcas oil catalyst and this makes the separation process difficult
(Pramanik, 2003). and eventually leads to low biodiesel yield. Acid-catalyzed
J. curcas transesterification was put forward as an alternative for
Properties oil this (Crabbe etal., 2001); the main drawback is that the
Density (g/cm3), 30C 0.93292 reaction is much slower than the alkali-catalyzed reaction.
Kinematic viscosity (cSt), 30C 52.76 Thus a two-step pretreatment was suggested in order to
Cetane No. 38.00 reduce the high FFA levels of Jatropha oil (Berchmans and
Flash point,C 210.00 Hirata, 2008). The pretreatment step reduces the FFA level
Calorific value, MJ/kg 38.20 to <1%, prior to use with an alkali catalyst, but this process
Saponification value 198.00 is time-consuming. During enzymatic transesterification
Iodine No. 94.00 with lipase, the FFA is converted to methyl/ethyl esters by
lipase. Thus, the pretreatment step can be avoided.
3750g of carbon dioxide over 5h at 350 bar pressure and
a temperature of 60C (Chen etal., 2009). Although this Chemical transesterification of J. curcas oil
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method could give high-quality Jatropha oil, the main Table 3 gives an overview of biodiesel production from
limitation for the supercritical method of oil extraction is J. curcas using different chemical methods. This is the
the high cost (Yan etal., 2005). Oil extraction using differ- method commonly taken on commercial scale. The basic
ent solvents has also been examined for J. curcas seeds. catalysts applied are sodium or potassium hydroxide since
Hexane was found to be a better solvent than petroleum these are much less expensive (Freedman etal., 1984). A
ether, with an extraction efficiency of 47.3% in 8h (Sayyar yield of 92% methyl ester was obtained with a sodium
et al., 2009). Among the methods described earlier, the hydroxide concentration of 1%, reaction temperature of
conventional methods of pressing and expulsion are still 65C, reaction time of 1h, and a methanol:oil ratio of 6:1.
the most feasible and economically viable methods for Alternatively, a 90% ethyl ester yield was formed using
oil extraction from J. curcas seeds. Moreover, the meth- 1% potassium hydroxide at room temperature for 5h and
ods of pressing and expulsion are much simpler and can an 8:1 molar ratio of ethanol:oil (Kywe and Oo, 2009).
be carried out by the rural people as a source of income. Both methyl esters and ethyl esters were produced
from crude Jatropha oil by Foidl etal. (1996). Potassium
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Biodiesel production from J. curcas L. oil hydroxide and sulfuric acid were the catalysts. A maxi-
mum yield of 92% and 88.4% were reported for the methyl
Mixtures of methyl or ethyl esters of fatty acids derived and ethyl esters, respectively. Chemical, physical, and
through transesterification of triacylglycerols (TAGs) con- fuel parameters were also analyzed for Jatropha oil, and
tained in plant oils are named biodiesel (Antczak etal., the methyl and ethyl esters.
2009). Biodiesel is produced from J. curcas oil through Chitra etal. (2008) reported a maximum methyl ester
various ways, mainly chemical (alkali/acid/supercriti- yield of 98% after using 20% methanol and 1% sodium
cal alcohol-catalyzed) and enzymatic catalysis. Several hydroxide at 60C for a period of 1.5h. A yield of 93%
variables such as type of catalyst, FFA content, alcohol:oil was obtained in 2.5h using calcium oxide as the catalyst
molar ratio, reaction temperature, water content, reac- (Huaping etal., 2006).
tion time, and so on are shown to affect the yield of biod- The most important problem faced during chemical
iesel from J. curcas oil. The quality of crude Jatropha oil transesterification of J. curcas oil is the presence of high
deteriorates gradually when there is improper handling FFA content in the oil. This leads to a high amount of soap
and inappropriate storage conditions. formation. Berchmans and Hirata (2008) developed a
Inappropriate storage leads to an increase in moisture technique to reduce the FFA content of crude Jatropha oil
content, which in turn leads to an increase in FFA in the (which has a FFA content >15%) to <1% by an acid-cata-
oil. In addition, exposure to open air and sunlight also lyzed pretreatment step. A 90% yield of methyl ester was
contributes to an increase in FFA. The FFA and moisture obtained in 2h. An optimized process for the reduction of
content have significant effects on the transesterifica- FFA was developed by Tiwari etal. (2007) and it was found
tion of triglycerides with alcohol (Goodrum, 2002). The that in order to reduce the FFA concentration from 14% to
percentage of FFA increases due to the hydrolysis of the <1%, the optimal conditions were 1.43% v/v sulfuric acid
triglycerides of the oil in the presence of moisture and catalyst, a methanol:oil ratio of 0.28 v/v, and a reaction
oxidation. Crude Jatropha oil contains higher concen- time of 1.47h with a 60C reaction temperature. The opti-
trations of unsaturated fatty acids such as linoleic acid mization process gave a higher than 99% biodiesel yield.
and oleic acid (Table 1). Oxidation of these FFA occurs A high conversion >80% was reported during biodiesel
easily and can lead to degradation of the oil. Reasons for synthesis from Jatropha in supercritical alcohols (Rathore
autooxidation are the presence of double bonds in the and Madras, 2007).
chains of unsaturated fatty acids (Berchmans and Hirata, Tang etal. (2007) reported a conversion rate of 90.5% with
2008). Jatropha oil can be stored at 4C in order to prevent micro sodium hydroxide, using supercritical and subcritical
rancidity of the oil (Devanesan etal., 2007). The high FFA methanol with a 0.47h reaction time. The main advantage
content (>1% w/w) will lead to soap formation with alkali of this method was that there was no soap formation in the

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Table 3. Chemical transesterification of J. curcas oil.


Molar ratio Reaction Productivity
(alcohol/ temp. g biodiesel/g
Transesterification type Catalyst Alcohol oil) (C) Duration (h) Yield (%) catalyst (h) References
Two steps in transesterification
Alkali catalyst Potassium hydroxide 1.5 wt% Methanol 4.50:1 30 0.5 92 61.33

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Alkali catalyst Methanol 30 0.5 Foidl etal.(1996)
Alkali-catalyzed Potassium hydroxide 3 wt% Ethanol 6.05:1 75 1.5 88.4 2.35
Acid-catalyzed Sulfuric acid 2 wt% Ethanol 80 6
Acid-catalyzed Sulfuric acid 2.63 wt% Methanol 0.28 v/v 60 1.47 >99 25.60 Tiwari etal. (2007)
Alkali-catalyzed Potassium hydroxide (3.5 + acid value w/v) Methanol 0.16 v/v 60 0.4
Acid-catalyzed Sulfuric acid 1 wt% Methanol 60 wt% 50 1 90 12.5 Berchmans and
Hirata (2008)
Alkali-catalyzed Sodium hydroxide 1.4 wt% Methanol 24 wt% 50 2
Single step in transesterification
Solid catalyst 1.5% Calcium oxide Methanol 9:1 70 2.5 93 24.8 Huaping etal.
(2006)
Alkali-catalyzed Sodium/potassium hydroxide (1 wt%) Methanol 3:1 24 Sarin etal. (2007)
Supercritical alcohol Catalyst-free Methanol 50:1 300 0.16 >80 Rathore and
Ethanol 50:1 300 0.16 Madras (2007)
Alkali-catalyzed Micro sodium hydroxide 0.8 wt% Methanol 24:1 250 0.47 90.5 240.69 Tang etal. (2007)
supercritical methanol
Alkali-catalyzed Sodium hydroxide 1 wt% Methanol 20 wt % 60 1.5 98 65.33 Chitra etal. (2008)
Alkali-catalyzed Sodium hydroxide 3.3 wt% Methanol 70 wt% 65 2 55 8.33 Berchmans and
Hirata (2008)
Alkali-catalyzed Sodium hydroxide 1 wt% Methanol 6:1 65 1 92 92 Kywe and Oo
(2009)
Potassium hydroxide 1 wt% Ethanol 8:1 Room 5 90 18
temp.
Alkali-catalyzed Sodium methoxide 0.8 wt% Methanol 9:1 45 0.5 96.29 240.72 Tapanes etal.
(2008)
Sodium methoxide 0.8 wt% Ethanol 9:1 45 0.5 93.14 232.85
Solid catalyst Potassium nitrate/aluminium oxide 6 wt% Methanol 12:1 70 6 84 2.33 Vyas etal. (2009)
Supercritical methanol Catalyst-free Absolute 43:1 320 0.067 99 Hawash etal.
methanol (2009)
Biodiesel production from Jatropha curcas 57
58 Rahmath Abdulla etal.
transesterification reaction (Tang etal., 2007). But the high Enzymatic transesterification of J. curcas oil
temperature (250C) used could be a problem. Crucial factors of enzymatic biodiesel synthesis include
A detailed molecular mechanism for base-catalyzed the selection of organic solvent, optimization of molar
transesterification of J. curcas oil based on empirical cal- substrates ratio, temperature, water activity, pH, and
culations was conducted by Tapanes etal. (2008). It was highest permissible glycerol concentration in the reac-
also shown that the reaction rate with ethanol was slightly tion products (Antczak etal., 2009). Enzymes have been
slower than with methanol. A conversion of 84% in 6h proposed to overcome the drawbacks of conventional
was reported when 6% of alumina loaded with potassium chemical-catalyzed biodiesel production. Moreover, glyc-
nitrate was used as the catalyst. The reaction temperature erol can be recovered easily and the fatty acids present in
was 70C, with a methanol:oil ratio of 12:1, and an agita- the oil can be completely converted to methyl esters and
tion speed of 600rpm (Vyas etal., 2009). further treatment of wastewater is not required (Janssen
Hawash et al. (2009) studied transesterification of etal., 1996). Lipases, as potential biocatalysts, are being
Jatropha oil using supercritical methanol. A catalyst was applied widely. Advantages of using lipases include ease
not applied in this study. Nearly 100% yield of esters was of product recovery, low temperature and energy require-
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obtained with a 4-min reaction time, at a temperature of ments, ease of enzyme recovery, mild reaction conditions
320C, and a pressure of 8.4MPa. A high molar ratio of of pH, temperature, use of reactors for continuous pro-
methanol:oil (43:1) was used in this reaction. This high duction, thermal stability at a relatively low temperature,
conversion rate in few minutes was counted as a major operational stability of enzyme, flexibility of accepting var-
advantage for biodiesel production. However the high- ious substrates and alcohols, and reaction in solvent and
energy input, due to the high temperature and pressure solvent-free systems. Lipases allow reactions in systems
applied, could lead to reduced feasibility. that contain acceptable amounts of water and can esterify
A total biodiesel yield of 96% (72kg) was obtained from FFA present in the oil and therefore make the overall
a pilot plant of 75kg capacity (Chitra etal., 2008). Another process more economically viable (Casimir etal., 2007).
30 gal/day pilot plant was also reported from refined Table 4 gives an outline of enzymatic transesterification of
Jatropha oil. The yields of methyl and ethyl esters were 92% J. curcas oil using different immobilized enzymes.
and 90%, respectively (Kywe and Oo, 2009). Production of Since the most important limiting factor for enzymatic
biodiesel from Jatropha oil on a pilot scale showed that the transesterification is the cost of the enzyme, it is crucial to
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results were almost compatible with those of the lab scale. identify a lipase that is readily available and also gives a
Overall, chemical catalysts provide a much higher pro- maximum conversion rate (Shah and Gupta, 2007). Lipases
ductivity as compared with the enzymatic ones (Tables 3 from various sources have been screened for biodiesel pro-
and 4). The main advantage of chemical method of biod- duction and Pseudomonas cepacia lipase has been found
iesel production is that it uses a low-cost catalyst and as a promising candidate for the transesterification of oils
requires less reaction time. In addition, the production (Otero etal., 2005; Noureddini et al., 2005).
technology has been well developed and commercial- A yield of 98% was reported by Shah and Gupta (2007)
ized. On the other hand, process-operating costs are too with a P. cepacia lipase immobilized on celite. The reac-
high for chemical methods of biodiesel production. In tion temperature was 50C and a reaction time of 8h was
addition, these also require wastewater treatment, which required. It was also shown that the reaction yield was
further adds to the production cost and poses a threat to not affected when analytical grade alcohol was replaced
the environment if not properly treated. The glycerol pro- by a commercial alcohol, making the process more
duced by these chemical catalysts is impure and needs economical. The immobilized lipase could be used four
further purification steps (Jegannathan et al., 2009a). times without loss of activity. This work can be regarded
Another important limiting factor with respect to alkali- as a step closer to reduce the longer reaction times of
catalyzed process is its sensitivity to both water and FFA lipases for biodiesel production.
in the oil. The presence of water causes ester saponifica- Modi etal. (2006) used ethyl acetate as an acyl acceptor
tion and the FFA react with alkali to produce soaps (Liu, and reported that the relative activity of lipase could be
1994; Basu and Norris, 1996). The soaps thus formed not maintained over 12 repeated cycles, whereas with etha-
only consume the catalyst, but also decrease yield and nol, the lipase activity lasted for only six cycles. The maxi-
make the purification and isolation of fatty acid methyl mum yield of ethyl ester was 91.3% with 10% Novozyme
esters (FAME) difficult. Thus chemical catalysts are cur- 435, an ethyl acetate:oil molar ratio of 11:1, and a reaction
rently not a promising route for the production of biod- period of 12h at 50C. From this work, it was suggested
iesel from feedstocks having higher amount of FFA such that ethyl acetate might be a suitable acyl acceptor for
as waste oil and non-edible oils such as J. curcas. Many of biodiesel production through the enzymatic method. The
these problems can be solved by using enzymes instead by-product obtained was triacetin, which has widespread
of alkali catalysts. Enzymes on the other hand have shown commercial applications.
excellent results; they are more efficient, highly selective, Very high conversion rates of above 80% were obtained
involve less energy consumption, and produce less side with a 10-min reaction time and nearly complete conver-
products and waste. In other words, enzymes can be sion was obtained in 40min with supercritical alcohols
called as environment-friendly catalysts. (Rathore and Madras, 2007). The advantages of biodiesel

 Critical Reviews in Biotechnology


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For personal use only.

Table 4. Enzymatic transesterification of J. curcas oil.

2011 Informa Healthcare USA, Inc.


Productivity
Reaction g
Alcohol/acyl Molar ratio temp. Duration Yield biodiesel/g
Source of enzyme Immobilization method acceptor (alcohol/oil) (C) (h) (%) enzyme (h) References
Pseudomonas cepacia lipase 10 wt% Celite Ethanol 4:1 50 8 98 1.22 Shah and Gupta (2007)
Novozyme 435, 10 wt% Macroporous acrylic resin Ethyl acetate Ethyl acetate:oil 50 12 91.3 0.76 Modi etal. (2006)
(lipase B from Candida antartica) ratio 11:1
Novozyme 435, 30 wt% Macroporous acrylic resin Methyl acetate Solvent:seed 50 36 86.1 0.08 Su etal. (2007)
(lipase B from C. antartica) ratio 7.5:1
Ethyl acetate 87.2
Novozyme 435 lipase Ethanol 5:1 45 8 60-70 0.27 Rathore and Madras
supercritical CO2 (2007)
Methanol
Novozyme 435, 30 wt% Macroporous acrylic resin 5:1 45 8 Rathore and Madras
(lipase B from C. antartica) (2007)
Pseudomonas fluorescens Entrapment sodium alginate Methanol 4:1 40 48 72 0.25 Devanesan etal. (2007)
MTCC 103 6 wt%
Whole cells of Rhizopus oryzae Biomass support particles Methanol 3:1 30 60 80 0.33 Tamalampudi etal.
(ROL) 4 wt% (2008)
Enterobacter aerogenes lipase Activated silica with Methanol 4:1 55 48 94 Kumari etal. (2009)
ethanolamine and
cross-linked by glutaraldehyde
Chromobacterium viscosum Celite-545 Ethanol 4:1 40 8 92 2.3 Shah etal. (2004)
lipase, 5 wt%
Novozyme 435, 10 wt% Macroporous acrylic resin Dimethyl carbonate Solvent:seed 50 36 95.9 0.26 Su etal. (2009)
(lipase B from C. antartica) Diethyl carbonate ratio 10:1 94.5
Biodiesel production from Jatropha curcas 59
60 Rahmath Abdulla etal.
production using supercritical alcohols are there is no need 1:4, 50U of immobilized lipase/g of oil, and a t-butanol:oil
for (i) pretreatment step, (ii) soap removal, and (iii) catalyst ratio of 0.8:1. The reaction temperature was 55C with
removal. This in turn reduces the capital cost of the biodie- 48h of reaction time. Negligible loss of lipase activity was
sel plant. However, the main drawbacks associated with this observed after seven cycles of use; however, there was a
are the high-operating costs due to the high temperatures gradual decrease in relative activity. It was found that after
and pressures applied. Enzymatic transesterification with 20 times of reuse, the lipase activity was reduced to 50%.
Jatropha oil was also attempted using supercritical carbon Lipase from Chromobacterium viscosum, immobi-
dioxide since this avoids the use of high temperatures, as lized on Celite-545, was shown to enhance the biodiesel
mentioned earlier. Novozyme 435 lipase was used for this yield to 71% from 62% of free-tuned enzyme preparation;
study. They could only obtain a conversion of 6070% after the reaction temperature was 40C for a period of 8h.
8h of reaction time. This showed that enzymatic synthesis The yield was further increased to 92% after addition of
of biodiesel with supercritical carbon dioxide was not a adequate amounts of water (0.5% w/v) to the reaction
promising field for commercialization at this time. medium (Shah etal., 2004).
Biodiesel produced by entrapment of the cells of Recently, biodiesel was produced from Jatropha by
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Pseudomonas fluorescens was studied by Devanesan an in situ lipase-catalyzed reactive extraction of oilseeds
et al. (2007). The cells were immobilized using sodium with short-chained dialkyl carbonates (dimethyl/diethyl
alginate. A maximum yield of 72% was obtained at 40C, carbonate) (Su etal., 2009). The yield of methyl and ethyl
with an oil:methanol molar ratio of 1:4, 3g of beads, and esters was 95.9% and 94.5%, respectively. This will give
a reaction time of 48h. Lipase entrapment with natu- extra benefit, as the extraction and transesterification pro-
ral polymers such as alginate and -carrageenan hold ceeded in one step and the solvent was reusable. Table 5
immense potential for biodiesel production. depicts the physicochemical properties of Jatropha biod-
A comparative study of whole-cell immobilized lipase iesel as compared with the different biodiesel standards.
and commercial lipase was also carried out for biodiesel The high cost of the enzyme is the main hurdle for
production from J. curcas oil (Tamalampudi etal., 2008). enzymatic transesterification. This can be overcome
Whole cells of Rhizopus oryzae, which produce lipase, to a certain extent by immobilization of the enzyme.
were immobilized onto biomass support particles. In this Nowadays researchers are trying out different combina-
study, the activity of this particular lipase was compared tions of basic immobilization techniques (noncovalent
For personal use only.

with that of a commercially available and effective lipase, adsorption, covalent binding, entrapment, and encapsu-
Novozyme 435, for biodiesel production. A maximum lation) in order to design a robust immobilized enzyme
yield of 80% was obtained after 60h with immobilized (Jegannathan et al., 2008). Among the immobilization
cells of R. oryzae, whereas Novozyme 435 could only techniques, entrapment and encapsulation on natural
give a yield of 76%, even after 90h of reaction time. More polymers are becoming more familiar, due to their low
works should be carried out in this area of comparison cost, process repeatability, lack of toxicity, and environ-
to ascertain if the whole-cell immobilized lipase is better ment-friendliness (Jegannathan etal., 2009b).
than the commercial lipase. Carrageenan is a generic name for a family of polysac-
Immobilized lipase from Enterobacter aerogenes charides obtained from certain species of red seaweeds
showed a maximum conversion of 94% with Jatropha oil (Rhodophyta) (Velde et al., 2002). -Carrageenan is a
using t-butanol as the solvent (Kumari et al., 2009). The high-molecular-weight polymer, which consists of alter-
optimized conditions were an oil:methanol molar ratio of nating units of -d-galactose sulfate and 3,6-anhydro-

Table 5. Physicochemical properties of biodiesel (Sarin etal., 2007).


ASTM 6751 IS 15607
Property (units) test method ASTM 6751 limits IS 15607 test method limits Jatropha methyl ester
Flash point (C) D-93 Min. 130 IS 1448 P:21 Min. 120 163
Viscosity at 40C (cSt) D-445 1.96.0 IS 1448 P:25 2.56.0 4.40
Sulfated ash (% mass) D-874 Max. 0.02 IS 1448 P:4 Max. 0.02 0.002
Sulfur (% mass) D-5453 Max. 0.05 ASTM D 5453 Max. 0.005 0.004
Cloud point (C) D-2500 NA IS 1448 P:10 NA 4
Copper corrosion D-130 Max. 3 IS 1448 P:15 Max. 1 1
Cetane number D-613 Min. 47 IS 1448 P:9 Min. 51 57.1
Water and sediment (vol%) D-2709 Max. 0.05 D-2709 Max. 0.05 0.05
CCR 100% (% mass) D-4530 Max. 0.05 D-4530 Max. 0.05 <0.01
Neutralization value (mg, KOH/g) D-664 Max. 0.80 IS 1448 P:1/Sec. 1 Max. 0.50 0.48
Free glycerin (% mass) D-6584 Max. 0.02 D-6584 Max. 0.02 0.01
Total glycerin (% mass) D-6584 Max. 0.24 D-6584 Max. 0.25 0.02
Phosphorus (% mass) D-4951 Max. 0.001 D-4951 Max. 0.001 <0.001
Distillation temperature D-1160 90% at 360C Not under spec. 90%
Oxidation stability (h) NA NA EN 14112 Min. 6 h 3.23

 Critical Reviews in Biotechnology


Biodiesel production from Jatropha curcas 61
-d-galactose units. Carrageenans are nontoxic and in structure is based on a tetracyclic carbon skeleton known
small concentrations of salts and low temperature, car- as tigliane. Six phorbol esters have been reported to date
rageenan solutions can form gels (Campo etal., 2009). from the seed oil of J.curcas (Figure 1). It was reported that
The viscosity of the carrageenan solution decreases all of the compounds isolated are intramolecular diesters
reversibly with an increase in temperature (Anderson, of the same diterpene moiety, namely, 12-deoxy-16-hy-
1968). Thus, carrageenan hydrogels are very promising, droxyphorbol (shown as 1 in Figure 1) (Haas etal., 2002).
nontoxic natural polymers for the industrial immobili- As such, phorbol esters do not induce tumors, but instead
zation of enzymes (Tumturk etal., 2007). Much research promote tumor growth with exposure to subcarcinogenic
is anticipated in this field in order to design a robust doses of carcinogens. These esters are amphiphilic and
immobilized lipase for biodiesel production. In the near have a tendency to bind to the phospholipid membrane
future, use of such natural polymers can be applied for receptors of the cell. Diacyl glycerol (DAG) activates pro-
enzymatic biodiesel production from J.curcas oil. tein kinase C (PKC) during the normal signal transduction
process. The phorbol esters from J. curcas act as an analog
for DAG and are strong PKC activators. This ultimately trig-
Critical Reviews in Biotechnology Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by University of Connecticut on 10/24/12

Toxicity studies on J. curcas gers cell proliferation and amplifies the efficacy of carcino-
J. curcas acts as a deterrent to pests and is used as a hedge gens (Goel etal., 2007).
plant because of its naturally toxic nature. As mentioned These esters were also found to vary depending on the
earlier, the oil can be used to produce biodiesel. In addition soil and climatic conditions (Martinez-Herrera etal., 2006).
to this, it can also be used in medicine and is reported to In general, the phorbol ester concentration of J. curcas
cure dysentery, hemorrhoids, gonorrhea, coated tongue, kernels varies from 2 to 3mg/g and that of seed oil ranges
infertility, small pox, skin infections, and so on. The oil is from 2 to 4mg/g among the different varieties of J. curcas
also being used in the manufacture of soaps and candles (Makkar etal., 1997). For example, a study was conducted
(Ahmed and Salimon, 2009). Both the seeds and seed meal on the phorbol ester level from three different provenances
have been reported to be highly toxic to animals (Adam and of tropical zones, namely Malaysia, India, and Indonesia.
Magzoub, 1975). Phorbol esters (phorbol-12-myristate-13- It was revealed that the phorbol esters level in Malaysian
acetate) and curcin (a protein) have been studied as the seed oil was found to be low, whereas the Jatropha oil from
major toxic compounds in Jatropha (Makkar etal., 1997; Indonesia had a high phorbol ester content (Ahmed and
For personal use only.

King etal., 2009). Phorbol esters are present in relatively Salimon, 2009). Martinez-Herrera et al. (2006) reported
high concentrations in the seeds of toxic J. curcas varieties, that nontoxic Mexican varieties of Jatropha had negligible
but only in low concentrations in the seeds of the nontoxic or low amounts of phorbol esters. Jatropha oil is not suit-
Mexican J. curcas. These are diterpene esters and their able for cooking purposes and the meal cake cannot be

12 8 2 3
18 R1 2 7
11 17 O 4 10 5 10
1 H 13 1 3 9 O 1 9
9 4
19 8
14 15
16 R2 O 5 6
14 O 6
7
8
2 14
H H
10 12
3 4 OH 11 15 11 12
7 (C13) O 13 (C13) O 13 16
16 15
O
OH
5 6 O O
OH (C16) 17 (C16) 17 18
20 18
20
R1 = R2= OH 19 19
20
21 22
21
22 23 24
23
1 2 24 3

10
2
O 4 9
1 3 6
8 O 7
O 5 O 2
3 5 8
13 7 4
11 1 6
12 6 9
(C13) O 3 1 2
4
9 10
14 O 7 10 O
O 5
(C16) 15
8 O 14
16 (C13) O 15 17
14 19
17 15 17 (C13) 11 13 16 21
11 19 O 12 18
18 13 16 23
O 12 18
21 20
19 23 22
20
20 (C16) (C16) 24
22
21 24

22
23

24
4,5 6 7

Figure 1. Structure of phorbol esters (Haas etal., 2002). 1: Structure of diterpene moiety namely 12-deoxy-16-hydroxyphorbol and 27: six phorbol
esters.

2011 Informa Healthcare USA, Inc.


62 Rahmath Abdulla etal.
used as an animal feed due to the presence of these toxic conversion rate, an environment-friendly technique, and
compounds (Gubitz etal., 1999). The phorbol esters can that is economically feasible. This can lead to the produc-
be reduced by different alkali treatments. Extraction using tion of biodiesel from immobilized lipase on a commer-
methanol was found to be the best method to reduce the cial scale. Preliminary studies on J. curcas have shown a
phorbol ester level in Jatropha oil (Ahmed and Salimon, positive energy balance and a positive impact on global
2009). After alkali treatment, the phorbol ester content was warming potential (Achten etal., 2008). More studies are
reported to be reduced up to 89% in whole and dehulled required to obtain a good insight on this promising energy
seed meal. Toxicity studies were also conducted on rats crop in terms of environmental sustainability.
(Rakshit etal., 2008). The toxic protein named curcin, by
Felke (1914), was isolated from J. curcas seeds. Later, this
Declaration of interest
curcin was reported to be a type I ribosome-inhibiting
protein (Barbieri etal., 1993). The curcin (lectin) of J. curcas The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors
was also found to be much less toxic than the other com- alone are responsible for the content and writing of the
mon lectins such as ricin and abrin. In short, studies have paper.
Critical Reviews in Biotechnology Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by University of Connecticut on 10/24/12

found that the phorbol esters contribute the main toxic-


ity of J. curcas seeds (Makkar etal., 1997). Thus, a crucial
obstacle in the establishment of J. curcas as a commercial References
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