Phorbol ester as toxic constituents of tropical Jatropha curcas seed oil

Abstract

The phorbol ester content of three different provenances of tropical Jatropha curcas seed from Malaysia, Indonesia and India were characterized. There were significant variations in the oil content and phorbol ester content of the seed from three provenances. Phorbol esters level was low in Malaysian seed oil (0.23%), whereas the level of phorbol esters on Indonesian and Indian seed oil were 1.58% and 0.58% respectively. The seeds oil was extracted by using mechanical-pressing method. The results showed that the Malaysian seed sample contains highest crude oil percentage of 33.73%, whereas the oil content from Indonesian and Indian seeds were 32.7% and 30.5% respectively. High performance liquid chromatography, HPLC analysis was used to evaluate phorbol esters in the seeds oil. The effect of oil refining on phorbol ester content was also studied. The influence of degumming and deodorization was very low, whereas the steps of neutralization and bleaching led to the significant reduction of phorbol esters content.