Physic nut, Purging nut

Where does Physic nut grow?

Found in: Africa, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Asia, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central Africa, Central African Republic, CAR, Central America, Chad, China, Colombia, Comoros, Congo DR, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, East Africa, East Timor, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, French Guiana, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guiana, Guianas, Guinea, Guinée, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Hawaii, Himalayas, Honduras, India, Indochina, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Laos, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Martinique, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, North America, Pacific, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, PNG, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Rotuma, Rwanda, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, SE Asia, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Southern Africa, South America, Sri Lanka, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Sudan, Suriname, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad, Uganda, United States, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, Virgin Islands, West Africa, West Indies, West Timor, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Notes: It is often used for hedges. Its oil is processed as a diesel fuel substitute. The nut contains a chemical curcin which stops protein being formed. Parts of plants have been used in medicine and for control of insects and plant diseases. It has anticancer properties. Seeds are threaded on strings and burned as candles. There are 100 Jatropha species in tropical America.

Status: A plant gaining in importance worldwide for its other uses, but not a significant food crop. Only occasional plants are grown in Papua New Guinea.

Growing Physic nut, Purging nut

Cultivation: Plants can be grown from seed or cuttings. Seedlings can be transplanted but it is best to plant cuttings directly where they are to grow. Using cuttings is very easy. Large cuttings should be used. It can be cut back and will re-grow.

Edible Uses: CAUTION: Fruit and seeds are very poisonous. The nut has been reported as being eaten in Mexico after being boiled and roasted. This however is not recommended. Some kinds have less poison and the embryo should be removed. The young leaves have been reported as being eaten after cooking. They act as a purge.

Production: Seeds germinate in 10 days. In humid regions near the equator flowering occurs throughout the year. Plants are not affected by daylength. It takes 90 days from flowering to fruit maturity. The tree can continue to produce nuts for 50 years.

Nutrition Info

Physic nut, Purging nut Photos

References

Abbiw, D.K., 1990, Useful Plants of Ghana. West African uses of wild and cultivated plants. Intermediate Technology Publications and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. p 31

Achigan-Dako, E, et al (Eds), 2009, Catalogue of Traditional Vegetables in Benin. International Foundation for Science.

Ambasta, S.P. (Ed.), 2000, The Useful Plants of India. CSIR India. p 302

Barwick, M., 2004, Tropical and Subtropical Trees. A Worldwide Encyclopedic Guide. Thames and Hudson p 232

Borrell, O.W., 1989, An Annotated Checklist of the Flora of Kairiru Island, New Guinea. Marcellin College, Victoria Australia. p 77

Bremness, L., 1994, Herbs. Collins Eyewitness Handbooks. Harper Collins. p 110

Brown, D., 2002, The Royal Horticultural Society encyclopedia of Herbs and their uses. DK Books. p 246

Bunderson, W. T. et al, 2002, Common Agroforestry Species in Malawi. Malawi Agroforestry Extension Project, Pubication No. 46, Lilongwe. p 5

Burkill, H. M., 1985, The useful plants of west tropical Africa, Vol. 2. Kew.

Burkill, I.H., 1966, A Dictionary of the Economic Products of the Malay Peninsula. Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Vol 2 (I-Z) p 1288

Condit, R., et al, 2011, Trees of Panama and Costa Rica. Princeton Field Guides. p 170

Cowie, I, 2006, A Survey of Flora and vegetation of the proposed Jaco-Tutuala-Lore National Park. Timor-Lests (East Timor) www.territorystories.nt/gov.au p 47

Dansi, A., et al, 2008, Traditional leafy vegetables and their use in the Benin Republic. Genet Resour Crop Evol (2008) 55:1239–1256

Etherington, K., & Imwold, D., (Eds), 2001, Botanica's Trees & Shrubs. The illustrated A-Z of over 8500 trees and shrubs. Random House, Australia. p 405

Flora of Pakistan. www.eFloras.org

Fowler, D. G., 2007, Zambian Plants: Their Vernacular Names and Uses. Kew. p 26

Gohre, A., et al, 2016, Plants from disturbed savannah vegetation and their usage by Bakongo tribes in Uíge, Northern Angola. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine (2016) 12:42

Grandtner, M. M., 2008, World Dictionary of Trees. Wood and Forest Science Department. Laval University, Quebec, Qc Canada. (Internet database http://www.wdt.qc.ca)

Grandtner, M. M. & Chevrette, J., 2013, Dictionary of Trees, Volume 2: South America: Nomenclature, Taxonomy and Ecology. Academic Press p 334

Hearne, D.A., & Rance, S.J., 1975, Trees for Darwin and Northern Australia. AGPS, Canberra p 78, pl 21

Heller, Joachim. 1996. Physic nut. Jatropha curcas L. Promoting the conservation and use of underutilized and neglected crops. 1. Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Re-search, Gatersleben/ International Plant Genetic Resources Institute, Rome.

Henning, R.K., 2007. Jatropha curcas L. [Internet] Record from Protabase. van der Vossen, H.A.M. & Mkamilo, G.S. (Editors). PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa), Wageningen, Netherlands. < http://database.prota.org/search.htm>. Accessed 16 October 2009.

Henty, E.E., 1980, Harmful Plants in Papua New Guinea. Botany Bulletin No 12. Division Botany, Lae, Papua New Guinea. p 60, Pl. 18

Heyne, K., p 937

Kermath, B. M., et al, 2014, Food Plants in the Americas: A survey of the domesticated, cultivated and wild plants used for Human food in North, Central and South America and the Caribbean. On line draft. p 455

Kintzios, S. E., 2006, Terrestrial Plant-Derived Anticancer Agents and Plant Species Used in Anticancer research. Critical Reviews in Plant Sciences. 25: pp 79-113

Kiple, K.F. & Ornelas, K.C., (eds), 2000, The Cambridge World History of Food. CUP p 1833

Krishen P., 2006, Trees of Delhi, A Field Guide. DK Books. p 154

Latham, P., 2004, Useful Plants of Bas-Congo province. Salvation Army & DFID p 158

Lazarides, M. & Hince, B., 1993, Handbook of Economic Plants of Australia, CSIRO. p 141

Makkar, H. P. S. et al, 1998, Edible provenances of Jatropha curcas from Quintana Roo state of Mexico and effect of roasting on antinutrient and toxic factors in seeds. Plant Foods for Human Nutrition 52: 31-36

Manandhar, N.P., 2002, Plants and People of Nepal. Timber Press. Portland, Oregon. p 278

Martin, F.W. & Ruberte, R.M., 1979, Edible Leaves of the Tropics. Antillian College Press, Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. p 49, 79, 192

Mot So Rau Dai an Duoc O Vietnam. Wild edible Vegetables. Ha Noi 1994, p 272

Ochse, J.J. et al, 1931, Vegetables of the Dutch East Indies. Asher reprint. p 278

Peekel, P.G., 1984, (Translation E.E.Henty), Flora of the Bismarck Archipelago for Naturalists, Division of Botany, Lae, PNG. p 312, 311

Plants of Haiti Smithsonian Institute http://botany.si.edu/antilles/West Indies

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (1999). Survey of Economic Plants for Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (SEPASAL) database. Published on the Internet; http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/ceb/sepasal/internet [Accessed 16th April 2011]

Segura, S., et al, 2018, The edible fruit species in Mexico. Genet Resour Crop Evol (2018) 65:1767–1793

Sp. pl. 2:1006. 1753

Staples, G.W. and Herbst, D.R., 2005, A tropical Garden Flora. Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu, Hawaii. p 289

Sukarya, D. G., (Ed.) 2013, 3,500 Plant Species of the Botanic Gardens of Indonesia. LIPI p 654

Swaminathan, M.S., and Kochnar, S.L., 2007, An Atlas of major Flowering Trees in India. Macmillan. p 296

Terra, G.J.A., 1973, Tropical Vegetables. Communication 54e Royal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam, p 54

Wijayakusuma, H.M.H., et al, 1996, Tanaman Berkhasiat Obat Di Indonesia. Pustaka Kartini. p 64

Williamson, J., 2005, Useful Plants of Malawi. 3rd. Edition. Mdadzi Book Trust. p 141

World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

www.worldagroforestrycentre.org/treedb/

Yuncker, T.G., 1959, Plants of Tonga, Bernice P. Bishop Museum, Hawaii, Bulletin 220. p 165