Article Sphere Logo  
Main Article Categories
 
"Landscaping Gardening" Article
 Article Directory Home Home And Family Landscaping Gardening

Jatropa Curcas: The Bio Diesel Medicinal Plant

By Expert Author: Manolito Montala
View Summary | Submitted: 2006-07-22 | Word Count: 488 words | Views: 235 view(s)
Manolito Montala
Jatropa Curcas or locally known as Tuba Bakod in our country has been used by our ancestors as a folkloric medicine for rheumatic pains, snake bites and also insecticide. The leaves are used as medicine for muscle ailments like rheumatic pains. Simply by applying oil on the leaves and heated by flames and then applied to the skin on where the ailments are. Although it has medicinal properties, the fruit and seed is not edible and poisonous when ingested. The leaves have anti-inflammatory properties but toxic when excessively used internally. The pounded leaves when pounded and made into a poultice can be used to aid in snakebites and also effective as an insecticide.

This shrub is erect and the leaves have a usually somewhat rounded at the base, pointed at the tip and toothed at the margins. Distributed though out the Philippines and neighboring Asian countries.

Although this is an important addition to the many medicinal herbs (which you can also find some Philippine medical plants in my site on the resource box link below), it is now been discovered as a good bio diesel alternative or additive. Very cost effective and very close to the chemical properties of (fossil) diesel fuel we are using today. Unlike the coconut oil or alcohol additive, which are expensive to produce, Jatropa curcas or tuba is much cheaper. A liter of pure coco bio diesel would cost over P120 or US$2.50, which is why only small amounts of it can be mixed with regular diesel fuel to produce a competitively priced alternative.

Since there are no much demand for tuba, and very easy to propagate the plants, it is cost effective. And imagine you can extract 1 liter of oil from 3 kilos of seeds. There are no complicated processes of extracting oil from the seeds unlike coconut oil and alcohol bio diesel. Seeds are sun dried and grounded to extract oil from it.

India now leads in the development of Jatropa curcas bio diesel fuel and now people in our country are becoming aware with the help of media. And hoping that the government will push through in promoting this bio diesel fuel. Research on jatropha biodiesel production in the Philippines is being undertaken by the research and development facility in Diliman, Quezon City, of PNOC Energy Development Corp.

In India they are talking about planting jatropha in as much as 33 million hectares of wasteland. The proponents envision plantations that can produce enough oil seeds from which biodiesel could be extracted to meet India's current diesel fuel requirement of 40 million tons annually. Five tons of jatropha oil seeds can produce two tons of biodiesel.

The Indian proponents of jatropha biodiesel point out, among others, that the plants "grow on poor degraded soils and are able to ensure a reasonable production of seeds with very little inputs. [They are] not grazed by animals [and are] highly pest and disease resistant."

About the Author/Author Bio

About the author: Manolito Montala is a webmaster and one of his interests is collecting local medicinal plants information which can be found in Filipino Herbs Healing Wonders. You can also visit his site in www.filipinoherbshealingwonders.filipinovegetarianrecipe.com

Article Source: http://www.articlesphere.com/Article/Jatropa-Curcas--The-Bio-Diesel-Medicinal-Plant/42262

 
 
 
This article has been viewed 235 time(s).

More "Landscaping Gardening" Related Articles

 

Listed below are more articles related to the above article from the "Landscaping Gardening" article category.

People interested in the above article "Jatropa Curcas: The Bio Diesel Medicinal Plant" are also interested in the related articles listed below:

Expert Author: Andrew I. Johnson | Submitted: 2008-08-15 | Word Count: 476 | Views: 18
Having your trees trimmed can offer many advantages and it should be considered for all trees on your property. Tree trimming is essential when you are growing a new tree. The shape of the tree can be controlled by proper trimming early in life. When you have your trees trimmed, you reduce the risk of limb breakage, disease, damage to your property, and irregular tree shape.
Expert Author: Andrew I. Johnson | Submitted: 2008-08-15 | Word Count: 428 | Views: 18
Many people require Austin tree services to maintain or remove trees on their property. If you are having a tree removed, you may be curious about the tree’s age. Dendrochronology uses trees rings to figure out the tree’s age.
Expert Author: Anne Harvester | Submitted: 2008-08-14 | Word Count: 501 | Views: 8
It isn't just scientists jumping on the hydroponics bandwagon. With more and more farmers investing in these kind of indoor growing systems, it is easier than ever before for you to start your own hydroponic garden at home. All it takes is a minimal investment.
Expert Author: Dayelle Swensson | Submitted: 2008-08-14 | Word Count: 570 | Views: 11
Colorful perennial plants can be used for both shade gardens and backyard areas getting constant full-sun. It is important to select the right one for the specific area of your yard you want to dress-up. By choosing the right perennials, you can combat three landscape problems - hot and dry locations, wet and swampy areas, and windy or exposed sites.
Expert Author: Chris Meagher | Submitted: 2008-08-13 | Word Count: 724 | Views: 43
Without plants, the landscape becomes rather boring. No interesting places for the eye to dwell, nor any soothing scenery, not much for the soul,either. However, plants can be expensive, certainly if you are trying to establish your entire garden in one hit. Cheap plants are readily available all over the place, whether they be very young, or for that matter, very old and passed their sellability.
Expert Author: Chris Meagher | Submitted: 2008-08-13 | Word Count: 1181 | Views: 37
Although a Landscape Designer and a Landscape Architect, are generally considered to be the same profession, in this article the term "Landscape Designer" will refer to those professionals that offer their services to the urbanite; as opposed to a "Landscape Architect", which refers to those practitioners that deal mainly with large projects, such as parks, urban planning and environmental projects.
Expert Author: Anne Harvester | Submitted: 2008-08-13 | Word Count: 509 | Views: 31
Are you looking to get into the growing trend of organic hydroponics gardening? Well, the first thing you to need to do is understand what hydroponics is before you can know to use it for organic purposes. Hydroponics, simply put, is the process of indoor growing plants in water and nutrients under grow lights or LED lights, compared to the normal method of using just soil.

 View Landscaping Gardening Popular Articles | View Landscaping Gardening Top Authors

Article Directory Home Home And Family Landscaping Gardening

Can't find what you're looking for? Try Google Search!
(Search in 23 languages: English, Spanish, Japanese, Arabic, Italian, German,
Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Dutch, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Greek,
Swedish, Romanian, Polish, Norwegian, Finnish, Danish, Czech, Croatian, Bulgarian)
 
 
Copyright © 2005 - by Larry Lim, Singapore - Article Search Engine Directory at ArticleSphere.com™
All Rights Reserved Worldwide. All Trademarks and Servicemarks are the property of the respective owners.
Template Design by Internet Marketing Singapore | Internet Marketing
Français/French Español/Spanish 日本語/Japanese [أربيك]/Arabic Italiano/Italian Deutsch/German 汉语/Chinese Simplified 漢語/Chinese Traditional Nederlands/Dutch 한국어/Korean Port/Portuguese Русско/Russian
Ελληνικά/Greek Swedish Roman?/Romanian Polski/Polish Norwegian Suomi/Finnish Dansk/Danish ?esky/Czech Hrvatski/Croatian §¢§ì§Ý§Ô§Ñ§â§ã§Ü§Ú/Bulgarian English - Original language