Browsing by Author "Kumari, Rashmi"

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Biodiesel production from seed oil of Cleome viscosa L.
(CSIR-NISCAIR, 2012) Kumari, Rashmi; Jain, Vinod Kumar; Kumar, Sushil
Edible oil seed crops, such as rapeseed, sunflower, soyabean and safflower and non-edible seed oil plantation crops Jatropha and Pongamia have proved to be internationally viable commercial sources of vegetable oils for biodiesel production. Considering the paucity of edible oils and unsustainability of arable land under perennial plantation of Jatropha and Pongamia in countries such as India, the prospects of seed oil producing Cleome viscosa, an annual wild short duration plant species of the Indogangetic plains, were evaluated for it to serve as a resource for biodiesel. The seeds of C. viscosa resourced from its natural populations growing in Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi areas of Aravali range were solvent extracted to obtain the seed oil. The oil was observed to be similar in fatty acid composition to the non-edible oils of rubber, Jatropha and Pongamia plantation crops and soybean, sunflower, safflower, linseed and rapeseed edible oil plants in richness of unsaturated fatty acids. The Cleome oil shared the properties of viscosity, density, saponification and calorific values with the Jatropha and Pongamia oils, except that it was comparatively acidic. The C. viscosa biodiesel had the properties of standard biodiesel specified by ASTM and Indian Standard Bureau, except that it had low oxidation stability. It proved to be similar to Jatropha biodiesel except in cloud point, pour point, cold filter plugging point and oxidation stability. In view of the annual habit of species and biodiesel quality, it can be concluded that C. viscosa has prospects to be developed into a short-duration biodiesel crop.
Variability in the accessions from aravali range assessed for domestication of the Cleomaceae biodiesel plant Cleome viscosa Linn
(NISCAIR, 2012) Kumari, Rashmi; Tyagi, Anshika; Sharma, Vishakha; Jain, Vinod Kumar; Kumar, Sushil
In an earlier study at our laboratory showed that the biodiesel derived from the seed oil of the annual herbaceous medicinal weed plant Cleome viscosa Linn. possesses properties similar to the commercial biodiesel produced from Jatropha seed oil. Here, the possibilities of domestication of C. viscosa were examined. With this objective, 15 accessions from Aravali range in North-West India and two from North-East India were evaluated for phenotypic and genetic variability. The accessions were cultivated in four seasons from May to November 2009 at New Delhi by growing them in randomized block design replicated four times. The accessions were studied for 6 qualitative and 13 agronomic characters and significant genetic variability in all the agronomic traits was observed. On the basis of morphological features, the accessions fell into two groups: a small leaved group and a large leaved group. While the small leaved group comprised of accessions from Rajasthan, the large leaved group included accessions from different locations in North-west and North-East India. One of the small leaved accessions called CVR14 was identified as a putative high yielding accession. The July-October (or monsoon-autumn) season of about 13-15 weeks was observed to be the most suitable period for obtaining rainfed crop of C. viscosa CVR14. The DNA fingerprinting based analysis of hierarchical relationships between accessions demonstrated that large leaved and small leaved accessions were inter-related. The results indicated that C. viscosa accessions from diverse locations perhaps comprised a single complex.