Review on Jatropha

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume II, Issue VIII, August 2018 | ISSN 2454–6186

Review on Jatropha

Madepalli Byrappa Gowdu Viswanathan¹, Jesu Doss Jeya Ananthi², N. Venkatesan²

¹ Department of Plant Science, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli 620 024, Tamil Nadu, India
²Departments of Pharmaceutics, Arulmigu Kalasalingam College of Pharmacy, Krishnankoil – 626126, Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract- Natural materials including plants, animals and minerals have been the basis for the treatment of human diseases. In the early part of the century, plants were a vital source of raw material for medicines. Greek Physician Galen (129-200 A.D.) devised the first Pharmacopoeia describing the appearance, properties and use of many plants of his time. The foundations of modern pharmaceutical industry were laid when techniques were developed to produce synthetic replacements for many of the medicines that had been derived from the forests. The genus Jatropha belongs to tribe Joanneasiae of Crotonoideae in the Euphorbiaceae family and contains approximately 175 species, cultivated throughout the tropical to temperate regions of the world, have been used in different ailments like bleeding, cancer, diarrhea, fever, pain and infection, jaundice, useful in chronic dysentery, thirst, tridosha, urinary discharges, abdominal complaints, biliousness, anemia, fistula, and diseases of the heart.

Homeopathically it is used for cold sweats, colic, collapse cramps, cyanosis, diarrhea, and leg cramps. The root, stem, leaves, fruit, seed, bark and latex of the plant are largely used for the treatment of many diseases in different parts of the world (Rajore et al., 2003). In the present study, we discussed the chemical constituents and medicinal uses of some of the species of jatropha.

Key words:  Jatropha, Euphorbiaceae, Perennial, tropics and subtropics.

I. INTRODUCTION

The genus Jatropha belongs to tribe Joanneasiae of Crotonoideae in the Euphorbiaceae family and contains approximately 175 species, cultivated throughout the tropical to temperate regions of the world. The name is derived from the Greek words ἰατρός (iatros), meaning “physician,” and τροφή (trophe), meaning “nutrition” and are used in traditional folklore medicine to cure various ailments in Africa, Asia and Latin America (Chopra et al., 1956; Martinez, 1959; Burkill, 1994).  It is a small tree or large shrub, which can grow between 3 and 5 m in height but can attain a height up to 8 to 10 m under favorable conditions. The branches of Jatropha contain latex, normally five roots are formed from seeds, one central tap root and four peripheral. The plant is monoecious and flowers are unisexual. Pollination is by insects. The life span of the plant is more than 50 years (Larochas, 1948; Takeda, 1982). It is planted as a hedge (living fence) by farmers all over the world around homesteads, gardens and fields, because it is not browsed by animals (Reinhard, 2004).

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