Variation in Oil Content of Non-edible and Unexploited-Oil Seed Species of Tamil Nadu

Identification of unexploited and non-edible oil seed species for biofuel production is highly essential to sustain the biodiesel production demand in our country. The present investigation was carried out at Forest College and Research Institute, Mettupalayam during 2014–2015. A total of nine unexploited species namely Sterculia foetida, Abrus precatorius, Thespesia populnea, Dodonaea viscosa, Hevea brasiliensis, Entadarhe edii, Cleome viscosa, Leucaena leucocephala, Pongamia pinnata (control) were collected from various sources to study the pod and seed traits viz. pod length, pod breadth, seed length, seed breadth, 100 seed weight and oil content. A wide variation was observed for all the traits studied. Average oil content was observed among nine species varied from 1.2% to 33.4%. The highest oil content was recorded in Sterculia foetida (33.40%) followed by Pongamia pinnata(30.60%) and Thespesia populnea (30.20%). So, these species could be commercially cultivated in the in wasteland to meet out the raw materials demand for biodiesel production.