Biodiesel has gained worldwide popularity as an alternative energy source due to its renewable, non-toxic, biodegradable and non-flammable properties. It also has low emission profiles and is environmentally beneficial. Biodiesel can be used either in pure form or blended with conventional petrodiesel in automobiles without any major engine modifications. Various non-edible and edible oils can be used for the preparation of biodiesel. With no competition with food uses, the use of non-edible oils as alternative source for engine fuel will be important. Among the non-edible oils, such as Pongamia, Argemone and Castor, Jatropha curcas has tremendous potential for biodiesel production. J. curcas, growing mainly in tropical and sub-tropical climates across the developing world, is a multipurpose species with many attributes and considerable potentials. In this article, we review the oil extraction and characterization, the role of different catalysts on transesterification, the current state-of-the-art in biodiesel production, the process control and future potential improvement of biodiesel production from J. curcas.

By-product of tuna fish processing industry has the potential to be developed into fish oil rich in omega. Fish by-products are the main natural source of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) with a great importance in food industry and pharmacy. The purpose of this research is to see the effect of fish oil extracting method from the head of tuna fish as by-product of tuna fish processing industry to the physicochemical properties and the profile of fatty acid fish oil. There are several methods of extraction to produce of fish oil. This research was run in triplicate with a completely randomized design (CRD) with three treatments: pre-cooked wet rendering, acid silage, and solvent extraction. It can be concluded that the extraction method has an effect on physicochemical properties and fatty acid profile of fish oil. The wet rendering extraction method is the most effective and most potential extraction method to be applied because it produces the highest yield (12.80%) compared to the silage process (6.16%) and solvent extraction method (8.49%). PUFA produced from wet rendering was 44.34%, statistically not different with solvent extraction method (44.49%), but it higher than silage process method (32.77%).

Rice is a crop that is consumed as a staple food by the majority of the people in the world and therefore failure in rice crops, due to any reason, poses a severe threat of starvation. Rice blast, caused by a fungus Pyricularia oryzae, has been ranked among the most threatening plant diseases of rice and it is found wherever rice is grown. All of the rice blast disease management strategies employed so far have had limited success and rice blast has never been eliminated from rice fields. Hence, there is a need to look for the best remedy in terms of effectiveness, sustainability, and organic nature of the method. This study was aimed at determining the plant growth-promoting and fungicidal effects of a mixture of Piper caninum and Piper betle var. Nigra leaves extracts and rhizobacteria. Gas chromatography–mass spectrophotometry (GC-MS) analysis of a mixture of leaves extracts of these plants revealed the presence of new bioactive compounds such as alpha.-gurjunene, gamma.-terpinene, and ethyl 5-formyl 3-(2-ethoxycarbonyl) in a mixture of leaves extracts of P. caninum and P. betle var. Nigra. The mixture of these extracts reduced the intensity of blast disease, inhibited P. oryzae, and improved the growth, yield, and quality of Bali rice. All treatments comprising of different concentrations of a mixture of leaves extracts of P. caninum and P. betle var. Nigra plus rhizobacteria exhibited biocontrol and bioefficacy. However, a 2% concentration of a mixture of these leaves extracts with plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) exhibited potent inhibition of growth of P. oryzae, a significant reduction in the intensity of blast disease, and a maximum increase in growth, yield, and quality of Bali rice. In the 15th week, the intensity of blast disease decreased from 80.18% to 7.90%. The mixture of leaves extract + PGPR also improved the height of the plant, the number of tillers, number of leaves, number of grains per panicle, number of heads per panicle, and the full-grain weight per clump. Applications of various concentrations of a mixture of leaves extracts + PGPR resulted in improvement in the potential yield of rice, however, the application of 2% extracts + PGPR gave the highest potential yield of 5.61 tha−1 compared to the low yields in the control and other treatments. The high grain yield observed with the treatment was caused by the low intensity of blast disease. This treatment also strengthened the stem and prevented the drooping of the plant and improved the quality of rice grain.

The purpose of research is to see the effect of type of reagent (NaOH, H 2 O 2 and H 2 SO 4) and the condition of pretreatment of cocoa pod husk towards lignin content after pre-treatment and hydrolysis, reducing sugar and total sugar content. Response Surface Method (RSM) was used to optimize process conditions of pre-treatment (delignification). Hydrolysis for all pretreated sample were carried out using 3% H 2 SO 4 with a ratio of cocoa pod husk to solvent (1:10) for 2 hours at a temperature of 110 o C using an autoclave. The chemical pre-treatment with NaOH was optimized by varying the concentrations of NaOH (4-8% (w/v), centre point: 6%), reaction time (60-100 minutes, centre point: 80 minutes) and ratio of biomass to solvent (1:15-1:25, centre point 1:20 w/v). The optimum conditions in this study was at the concentration of NaOH (X 1) of 4% w/v, reaction time (X 2) of 100 minutes; ratio of biomass/solvent (X 3) of 1:25 (w/v). The lignin content after pre-treatment was 15.03% lignin, lignin content after hydrolysis was 19.57%, 11.75% of reducing sugar, and 12.78% of total sugar. The chemical pre-treatment with alkaline peroxide (H 2 O 2) was optimized by varying the concentrations of H 2 O 2 (4-7% w/v, centre point 5.5% (w/v)), reaction time (40-90 minutes, centre point: 65 minutes), and ratio of biomass/solvent (4-7% w/v). The optimum conditions in this study was at the concentration of H 2 O 2 concentration (X 1) of 5.52% w/v, reaction time (X 2) of 61.97 minutes, biomass loading in solvent (X 3) 7% w/v. The lignin content after pre-treatment was 8.759, lignin content after hydrolysis was 25.029%, 8.169% of reducing sugar, and 10.371% of total sugar. The chemical pre-treatment with H 2 SO 4 was optimized by varying the concentrations of H 2 SO 4 (0.5-1.5% w/v), reaction time (60-120 minutes, centre point: 90 minutes), and ratio of biomass to solvent (1:4-1:6 w/v, centre point 1:5 w/v). The optimum conditions was reached without hydrolysis. The optimum condition this study is at the H 2 SO 4 concentration (X 1) of 1.5%, reaction time (X 2) of 120 minutes, ratio of biomass/solvent (X 3) of 6%. The lignin content after pre-treatment was 18.8%, 15.59% of reducing sugar and 20.49% of total sugar.