Jatropha is a multifunctional plant that is capable of growing and producing useful products on degraded and poor soils even under harsh climatic conditions. The seeds contain about 25 –35% oil that can be used as fuel directly or as a substitute for diesel after esterification. Currently many oil importing countries have plans to undertake massive cultivation of Jatropha to produce renewable fuel oil locally and reclaim wasteland for food production. However, appropriate utilization of the Jatropha seed meal left after the extraction of oil and of other co-products is essential for the economic viability and wider acceptability of the Jatropha-based biofuel production systems. Although Jatropha seed meal has a high concentration of nutrients, so far it could not be used as an animal feed because of its toxicity. As biofuel production from Jatropha is economically unviable if Jatropha seed meal is not used as a livestock feed, the development of methods for detoxification of the seed meal is of the utmost importance. This German-Sino project deals with the efficient extraction and use of oil, and production of feed grade protein concentrate and seed meal from Jatropha curcas seeds for inclusion in monogastric, fish and ruminant feeds. Financial and economic analysis
is also being undertaken in this project.

The project integrates complimentary skills and expertise from public and private sector institutions in Germany and China, aiming to enhance the economic viability and sustainability of Jatropha-based biofuel production systems by introducing innovative industrial and livestock production systems. The Institute for Animal Production in the Tropics and Subtropics is coordinating the project and is working with another three institutes in Hohenheim. The findings of this project have global implications because Jatropha plantations have been initiated on large scale in a number of countries such as India, Madagascar, Myanmar, Indonesia, Egypt, Zimbabwe and Tanzania. The research is funded by the Federal Ministry for Education and Research. more