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Eighteen different provenances of Jatropha curcas from countries in West and East Africa, North and Central America, and Asia were characterized for nutrient and antinutritional factors. The mean weight of the 18 seed provenances was 0.64 ± 0.10 g (mean ± sd). The kernel forms a large proportion of the seed and accounts for 61.3% ± 3.1%. There were large variations in the contents of CP (19−31%; 26.0% ± 3.2%), lipid (43−59%; 53.0% ± 4.8%), neutral detergent fiber (3.5−6.1%; 5.0% ± 0.87%), and ash (3.4−5.0%; 4.2% ± 0.52%) in kernels. The gross energy of kernels was relatively similar (28.5−31.2 MJ/kg; 30.1 ± 0.80 MJ/kg). Trypsin inhibitor activity in the defatted kernels (meal) varied from 18.4−27.5 mg of trypsin inhibited/g. Similarly a wide variation was observed for saponins (1.8%−3.4% as diosgenin equivalent), phytate (6.2%−10.1% as phytic acid equivalent), and lectin activity, inverse of minimum amount of the sample in milligrams per milliliter of the assay which produced agglutination (0.85−6.85 using a latex agglutination test and 51.3−204 using a hemagglutination assay) in the meals. Tannins, amylase inhibitor, glucosinolates, and cyanogens were not detected in any of the meals. Phorbol esters were not detected in the seeds collected in Papantla, Mexico, whereas the level of phorbol esters in the remaining 17 provenances ranged from 0.87 to 3.32 mg/g of kernel. Keywords: Jatropha curcas; physic nut; nutrients; trypsin inhibitor; lectins; phorbol esters; phytate

Salvia, with over 900 species from both the Old and New World, is the largest genus in the Lamiaceae. Unlike most members of the subfamily Nepetoideae to which it belongs, only two stamens are expressed in Salvia. Although the structure of these stamens is remarkably variable across the genus, generally each stamen has an elongate connective and divergent anther thecae, which form a lever mechanism important in pollination. In a preliminary investigation of infrageneric relationships within Salvia, the monophyly of the genus and its relationship to other members of the tribe Mentheae were investigated using the chloroplast DNA regions rbcL and trnL-F. Significant conclusions drawn from the data include: Salvia is not monophyletic, Rosmarinus and Perovskia together are sister to an Old World clade of Salvia, the section Audibertia is sister to subgenus Calosphace or the monotypic Asian genus Dorystaechas, and the New World members of section Heterosphace are sister to section Salviastrum. Owing to the non-monophyly of Salvia, relationships at the next clearly monophyletic level, tribe Mentheae, were investigated.