Rational use of Jatropha curcas L. in food and medicine: from toxicity problems to safe applications

Jatropha curcas L. is natural sources of biodiesel. It has high potential economic values. Different parts of J. curcas have their own potencies, unfortunately these were not known by the farmers. The aim of this thesis is to give an overview of the additional values of Jatropha curcas L. by characterization of its natural products that can be used as a safe pharmaceutical product. In addition the detoxification of the plant cake allowing it to be used for animal stock has been researched. This thesis is a part of larger project for valorization Jatropha curcas L. plantation, especially in Indonesia. From the latex of J. curcas L. two cyclic peptides were isolated and synthesized. Curcacycline A inhibited the growth of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Bacillus subtillis. Both curcacyclines did not cause mutagenicity and cytotoxicity. From the pressed cake of J. curcas L, it can be utilized as animal feed, because its protein content is the same as FAO requirement, but the utilization is limited due to the toxic components. Because of that, detoxification process became an interesting object. We developed analytical method using tandem mass spectrometer to differentiate α, β phorbol myristic acetate (PMA) and dehydroxy phorbol ester (DHPEs). With this method we can detect the PMA in low amount (1 µg/mL). We also validated the detoxification results using ecotoxicity, cytotoxicity and mutagenicity tests. Based on those results J. curcas cake was not cytotoxic and mutagenic. These data will be essential to develop the use of J. curcas as new drug candidate and for animal food application