Abstract

The plant, jatropha has attracted worldwide attention for its high oil content. The use of high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to separate and quantify, for the first time, the phytic acid (inositol hexaphosphate) and lower inositol phosphates (tri-, tetra- and penta-phosphates; IP6, IP5, IP4 and IP3) in toxic and non-toxic (NT) Jatropha curcas seeds from different locations in Mexico was proposed. There are reports on the total phytic acids but the method of precipitation used was not specific to distinguish between the phytic acid (IP6) and its hydrolysis products; therefore, this technique underestimates the IP6 content. It was observed that the total inositol concentration is independent on the presence or absence of phorbolesters (PE). The analysis showed that the toxic seeds from Villaflores and Chiapa de Corzo had high concentrations of total IP (46.2 and 42.5 mg/g, respectively) but the NT seeds from Huitzilan is the highest (56.88 mg/g) followed by Pueblillo (41.427 mg/g), Cuautla (37.832 mg/g) and Xochitlan (35.868 mg/g) showed higher values of IP. Finally, the toxic seeds from Coatzacoalcos (22.5 mg/g) showed lower value.  This is the first work showing the different inositol phosphates present in jatropha seed samples, highlighting the presence of hexaphosphate acid as the major component.

Key words: Phytic acid, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), anti-nutrients, phytates, IP5, IP6, hexaphosphate.