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A systematic collection of Jatropha curcas germplasm was carried out from five distinct ecogeographic zones of peninsular India in 2008. This involved recording passport data, documentation of important plant traits in situ, ecogeographic parameters and assessment of variability in 82 accessions. Extraction of oil was done by the Soxhlet method which gave an average yield of 38%. Oil content of collected accessions was determined by nuclear magnetic resonance and Soxhlet extraction. Oil variability ranged from 45.5% in JC-8 to 11.5% in JC-30. The level of unsaturated fatty acid ranged from 85% in JC-57 to 75.5% in JC-10. Saturated fatty acids ranged from 24% in JC-43 to 15% in JC-54, the oxidative stability index was highest at 2.1 in JC-30 and lowest at 0.68 in JC-17. The seed weight was greatest in JC-8 and the lowest in JC-30. This paper provides information that will facilitate the selection of promising accessions for genetic enhancement of Jatropha germplasm through conventional breeding.