Indian Journal of Experimental Biology Vol. 50, July 2012, pp. 502-510 Biodiesel production from seed oil of Cleome viscosa L. Rashmi Kumari 1, 2 , Vinod Kumar Jain 1 & Sushil Kumar *2 1 School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and 2 Genetic Genomics Laboratory, National Institute of Plant Genome Research (NIPGR), New Delhi 110 067, India Received 21 November 2011; revised 9 April 2012 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. Keywords: Cleome viscosa seed oil, Linoleic acid rich oil, Non edible biodiesel oil, Soybean/sunflower like oil Fossil fuels have been the principal resource of energy for steering infrastructural and economic developments both in the developing and the developed world 1-3 . There has however been a depletion in fossil fuel reserves and a massive increase in fuel prices resulting in unequal availability of these resources between developing and developed nations of the world 1,3 . Total dependence on fossil fuels for energy requirements is no longer sustainable, and hence in the last few decades, research has been intensified for developing new renewable resources of energy 1,4. Among living organisms being explored as sources of renewable energy, two kinds of plant/microbial products seem promising: namely, alcohol produced as a product of fermentation from carbohydrates, and semi-synthesized biodiesel from vegetable oils 5,6 . Biodiesel production has been successfully experimented from both edible and non- edible vegetable oils 5,7-9 . For example, most oilseed crops including rapeseed, sunflower, soybean, safflower and cotton seed have been successfully used for biodiesel production 5,7,10 . Among non-edible oils, biodiesel has been produced from oils of Jatropha curcas and Pongamia pinnata 3,5 . J. curcas and P. pinnata plantations developed in some arable and non-arable land areas are already serving as bulk resources of non-edible oil for biodiesel production 5,11-13 . Experiments on many other plant seeds for production of biodiesel are actively going on 6,9 . However, presently biodiesel is produced mainly from oils of edible oilseed crops and from non-edible oilseed plantations. In a densely populated country like India, urbanization and industrialization are eating up cultivable lands and as a result, edible oil is falling short in supply, necessitating large scale import 5,13,14 . The plantations of J. curcas and P. pinnata being perennial, any large scale cultivation of these non- edible oil plants in arable lands would negatively impact food security 5,11-13 . Under these circumstances, there is need for cultivation of alternate edible or non- edible seed oils as resource for biodiesel production, which fits into the crop rotation protocols practiced ___________ *Corresponent author Telephone: 91-11-26735177 Fax: 91-11-26741658 e-mail: sushil2000_01@yahoo.co.in rashmikumarijnu@gmail.com vkj0400@mail.jnu.ac.in