Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/rser Biometric and biotechnology strategies in Jatropha genetic breeding for biodiesel production Bruno Galvêas Laviola a , Erina Vitório Rodrigues a , Paulo Eduardo Teodoro b , Leonardo de Azevedo Peixoto b , Leonardo Lopes Bhering b, ⁎ a Embrapa Agroenergia, Parque Estação Biológica (PqEB), Asa Norte, Brasília, DF 70770-901, Brazil b Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Avenida Peter Henry Rolfs, s/n, Campus Universitário, Viçosa, MG 36570-000 Brazil ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Jatropha curcas Biofuels Selection gain Tree breeding ABSTRACT Due to shortages of fossil fuels, and the worldwide concern approximately climate change and global warming, biofuels have become an important source of sustainable energy. Several species can be used to produce biofuels such as soybeans (Glycine max), oil palm (Elaeis guineensis), and Jatropha (Jatropha curcas L.). Therefore, the objective of this paper was to integrate the information available in the literature and report the most promising strategies for genetic and biotechnological progress in Jatropha. Jatropha has become a potential crop to produce biofuel due to the high oil content found in the seeds, which can be transformed into biofuel. Jatropha has an average seed oil content of 35%, and the oil extracted from the seeds has 24.6% crude protein and 47.2% crude fat. Moreover, Jatropha has several agronomic morphological traits that make it a useful crop for biofuel production and animal feed, such as drought tolerance, rapid growth, and ease of propagation. It can be grown at almost any altitude, and plants can produce for more than 50 years. Additionally, Jatropha oil has good stability to oxidation, low viscosity, a low pour-point, which makes Jatropha oil better than soybean or palm oil. This paper presented an innovative and comprehensive literature review on all agronomic aspects of Jatropha, and the strategies that have been used to select superior genotypes for Jatropha breeding. Several important traits of Jatropha are affected by the environment and new strategies to select superior genotypes are required by breeders. Therefore, genomic wide selection associated with recurrent selection can be an appropriate strategy for Jatropha breeding. 1. Introduction Since the beginning of the industrial revolution in the 18th century, the world population and energy consumption have been steadily increasing [1]. The consequences have been a decrease in the avail- ability of fossil fuels and an increase in the oil price [2]. With the continuous surge in world energy consumption, energy crisis has more profound impact on global social and economic development [3]. Therefore, efforts to establish sustainable development programs and to support research on renewable energy, such as biofuels, or solar and/or wind energy among others, has been necessary [1]. In this context, the production of liquid bioenergy from vegetable oil is an ecological alternative that ensures the development of society under various future energy scenarios because it contributes to the reduction of greenhouse gas emission [4]. Biodiesel is non-sulfur, non-toxic, biodegradable fuel, consisting of mono alkyl esters of long chain fatty acids derived from natural and renewable lipids such as vegetable oil and animal fat [5–8]. The world's biodiesel production in 2014 from vegetable oil was approximately 28 billion liters, and it may exceed 38 billion liters by 2024 [9]. These estimates have encouraged several nations around the world to produce biodiesel from vegetable oil. For instance, soybean oil in the United States, rapeseed and sunflower oils in Europe, palm oil in Southeast Asia (mainly in Malaysia and Indonesia), and coconut oil in the Philippines have been considered as substitutes for mineral diesel fuel [1,9]. Conversely, the use of edible oil (especially soybean, sunflower and coconut) as biodiesel raw material has raised concerns such as the issue food versus fuel, and questions related to the environment besides, such as soil degradation and deforestation for energy production [2,10]. All these factors have negatively affected the economic viability of biodiesel production from edible oil. Therefore the exploitation of non-edible crops and the use of their products in biodiesel production can significantly reduce costs, especially in developing countries, which http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2017.03.116 Received 5 December 2016; Received in revised form 25 January 2017; Accepted 24 March 2017 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail address: leonardo.bhering@ufv.br (L.L. Bhering). Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 76 (2017) 894–904 1364-0321/ © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. MARK