| Jatropa Curcas or locally known as Tuba Bakod in our | | | | competitively priced alternative. |
| country has been used by our ancestors as a folkloric | | | | Since there are no much demand for tuba, and very |
| medicine for rheumatic pains, snake bites and also | | | | easy to propagate the plants, it is cost effective. |
| insecticide. The leaves are used as medicine for | | | | And imagine you can extract 1 liter of oil from 3 kilos |
| muscle ailments like rheumatic pains. Simply by | | | | of seeds. There are no complicated processes of |
| applying oil on the leaves and heated by flames and | | | | extracting oil from the seeds unlike coconut oil and |
| then applied to the skin on where the ailments are. | | | | alcohol bio diesel. Seeds are sun dried and grounded |
| Although it has medicinal properties, the fruit and | | | | to extract oil from it. |
| seed is not edible and poisonous when ingested. The | | | | India now leads in the development of Jatropa curcas |
| leaves have anti-inflammatory properties but toxic | | | | bio diesel fuel and now people in our country are |
| when excessively used internally. The pounded leaves | | | | becoming aware with the help of media. And hoping |
| when pounded and made into a poultice can be used | | | | that the government will push through in promoting |
| to aid in snakebites and also effective as an | | | | this bio diesel fuel. Research on jatropha biodiesel |
| insecticide. | | | | production in the Philippines is being undertaken by |
| This shrub is erect and the leaves have a usually | | | | the research and development facility in Diliman, |
| somewhat rounded at the base, pointed at the tip | | | | Quezon City, of PNOC Energy Development Corp. |
| and toothed at the margins. Distributed though out | | | | In India they are talking about planting jatropha in as |
| the Philippines and neighboring Asian countries. | | | | much as 33 million hectares of wasteland. The |
| Although this is an important addition to the many | | | | proponents envision plantations that can produce |
| medicinal herbs (which you can also find some | | | | enough oil seeds from which biodiesel could be |
| Philippine medical plants in my site on the resource | | | | extracted to meet India's current diesel fuel |
| box link below), it is now been discovered as a good | | | | requirement of 40 million tons annually. Five tons of |
| bio diesel alternative or additive. Very cost effective | | | | jatropha oil seeds can produce two tons of biodiesel. |
| and very close to the chemical properties of (fossil) | | | | The Indian proponents of jatropha biodiesel point out, |
| diesel fuel we are using today. Unlike the coconut oil | | | | among others, that the plants "grow on poor |
| or alcohol additive, which are expensive to produce, | | | | degraded soils and are able to ensure a reasonable |
| Jatropa curcas or tuba is much cheaper. A liter of | | | | production of seeds with very little inputs. [They are] |
| pure coco bio diesel would cost over P120 or | | | | not grazed by animals [and are] highly pest and |
| US$2.50, which is why only small amounts of it can | | | | disease resistant. |
| be mixed with regular diesel fuel to produce a | | | | |