In vitro culture of Jatropha curcas L.

The extension of Jatropha curcas L. cultivation as a biofuel feedstock species requires the distribution of a very large number of plants to the producers in a very short period of time. These plants have to be able to give a high oil yield and be morphologically and phenotypically homogeneous to facilitate cultural operations. If high oil content can be obtained by varietal selection, the achievement of homogeneous material passes by the in vitro propagation. Various methods of mass production of plant material by axenic culture have been published. This study reviews the protocols published for in vitro propagation of J. curcas and discusses their applicability to an industrial scale