Morphological and productive characterization of accessions of non-toxic Jatropha curcas L. in the central region of Veracruz.

Jatropha curcas belongs to the family Euphorbiaceae, native to Mexico and Central America, currently grows in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. It is a multipurpose plant, whose interest in recent years is related to its potential as a raw material for biodiesel production. The objective of this research was to evaluate the morphological and productive characteristics of accessions of non-toxic Jatropha curcas L., collected in different regions of Veracruz and that were propagated by seed in the central region of the state in 2019. The plant material consisted of 23 accessions with five repetitions, plants that were three years old. The variables recorded were plant height, stem diameter, branches (primary, secondary, tertiary), leaf length and width, flower buds, number of clusters and fruits; length, width, color and number of seeds per fruit, in seeds the weight, length, width, thickness and total weight of seeds per plant were recorded. The analysis of variance detected significant differences (p≤ 0.05) between accessions for most variables. The principal component analysis, the first two explained 57.66% and 60.8% of the variation. In seed-propagated accessions, the outstanding variables were flower buds, clusters, fruits and seed production (accessions I-34, I-32 and I-47). These accessions have the greatest potential and vigor to be included in a genetic improvement program. It is concluded that there is a wide morphological variation in the accessions studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]