Renewable Energy 41 (2012) 191e199

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Renewable Energy
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Potential of five plants growing on unproductive agricultural lands as biodiesel

resources
Cheng-Jiang Ruan a, *, Wei-He Xing a, Jaime A. Teixeira da Silva b
a
Key Laboratory of Biotechnology & Resources Utilization, Dalian Nationalities University, Dalian 116600, China
b
Faculty of Agriculture and Graduate School of Agriculture, Kagawa University, Miki-cho, Kagawa 761-0795, Japan

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Fossil fuels are being heavily depleted due to increasing anthropogenic activities worldwide, and burning
Received 10 December 2010 them contributes to global climate warming and air pollution. Vegetable oils are one of the main
Accepted 23 October 2011 feedstocks for biodiesel: they are non-toxic and environmentally friendly. Rising global population,
Available online 10 November 2011
decreasing arable lands and a decline in crop yields from desertification and salinization demands that
biodiesel feedstock be grown on unproductive agricultural lands. To estimate whether five plants
Keywords:
growing on such land in China could be used as energy plants, we determined their seed oil content
Biodiesel
(SOC) and relative fatty acid content, and estimated the cetane number (CN) of the biodiesel produced
Energy plants
Unproductive agricultural lands
from these plant oils by a fitted regression between different C18 fatty acids and CN. Results showed that
Seed oil content four plants can be developed as energy plants, including Datura candida (SOC ¼ 22.9%, CN ¼ 50.8),
Cetane number Xanthium sibiricum (SOC ¼ 41.9%, CN ¼ 46.5), Kosteletzkya pentacarpos (SOC ¼ 18.6%, CN ¼ 45.9) and
C18 fatty acid Hibiscus trionum (SOC ¼ 17.5%, CN ¼ 46.9). The fifth plant, Rhus typhina, was not adapted as an energy
plant because of its low SOC, 9.7%. Our data provide a scientific basis for growing energy plants in
unproductive agricultural lands as biodiesel resources.
Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction sulfur and generates no sulfur emissions, a major source of acidi-

Fossil fuels (coal, crude oil and natural gas) are currently the
primary source of cheap energy that powers our modern industrial
civilization. However, they are being heavily depleted due to
increasing anthropogenic activities worldwide, and burning them
contributes to global climate warming and air pollution [1]. The
depletion of fossil fuels spurs the need to develop renewable fuel
sources (wind, solar and biofuels). Biodiesel is a fuel comprising
mono-alkyl esters of medium to long-chain fatty acids derived from
vegetable oils or animal fats [2e4]. As a renewable alternative to
diesel fuel, biodiesel is oxygenated, biodegradable, non-toxic, and
environmentally friendly [4]. Its utilization significantly reduces
greenhouse gas emissions and toxic air pollutants [5]. This is
because biodiesel (1) reduces the net gain in CO2 emissions by 78%
compared to petroleum fuel and the tailpipe emissions of partic-
ulate matter (soot or black carbon) by 47% which is fast becoming
recognized as a major contributor to global warming as well as
a critical air pollutant associated with reduced human health,
particularly among children and asthmatics; and (2) contains no
* Corresponding author. Tel.: þ86 411 87656015; fax: þ86 411 87618179.
E-mail address: ruancj@yahoo.com.cn (C.-J. Ruan).
fication in rain and surface water [6].
Biodiesel production and its use has increased significantly in
many countries around the world, including the United States,
Austria, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, Brazil, China, and Malaysia
and it is in a nascent status in many others. For example, Peplow [7]
found a way to create fuel from the carbohydrates that make up
about 75% of a plant’s dried weight. Crop production needs to be
increased to meet a rising global population (expected to be 9.3
billion by 2050 [8]), but the yield of conventional crops decreases as
fertile soils become salinized [9,10]. However, most vegetable oils
such as soybean, peanut, rapeseed and cotton seed oils are edible
[11,12], and if they were to be used to produce biodiesel fuel, this
would conflict with limited oil or food resources for a rising global
population. Every year, an important portion of agricultural utilized
areas is lost as a consequence of desertification and salinization
[9,13], because adding to the increasing competition for limited
fresh water is the gradual and irreversible spread of salinization
[14]. In addition, a continuous rise in sea-level in a warming world
threatens increased salinity in coastal lowlands, such as Ches-
apeake Bay [15] and a 2000 km2 area of seawater encroachment
only in two provinces of Shandong and Liaoning, China [16]. Hence,
considering that domestic food and plant oil production currently
are insufficient to feed the 6.5 billion people in the world due to

0960-1481/$ e see front matter Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.renene.2011.10.022
192 C.-J. Ruan et al. / Renewable Energy 41 (2012) 191e199
limited agricultural lands, ultimately ways are needed to grow
biodiesel feedstock on unproductive agricultural lands such as
saline-alkaline lands, poor soil, deserted soils, and plough-
withdrawn lands that have not been forested or farmed or are
not adapted for food production because of too low yield.
The fuel properties of biodiesel, for example cetane number,
oxidative stability, cloud point, pour point, viscosity, density, and
heating value are directly related to the fatty acid profile of the
original source material [4]. These relationships can be used for
combustion modeling [17e19]. The cetane number, a widely used
diesel fuel quality parameter related to the ignition delay time (and
combustion quality) of a fuel, has been applied to alternative diesel
fuels such as biodiesel and its components [20]. The higher the
cetane number of a given compound, the shorter its ignition delay
time and vice versa [20]. Fatty acids of C18 chain length as well as
their methyl, ethyl, n-propyl and n-butyl esters were injected into
a constant-volume combustion apparatus to form the precombus-
tion phase of an ignition event, in which compound structure plays
a significant role in determining the cetane number of a given
material: more highly saturated fatty compounds have a higher
cetane number [21] while the more unsaturated C18 fatty
compounds have a relatively low cetane number [20]. Higher
cetane numbers are correlated with reduced nitrogen oxide (NOx)
exhaust emissions [22]; the environmental significance of reducing
NOx exhaust emissions is that these exhaust emissions are
precursors of ozone (O3), which is a primary component of urban
smog. NOx emissions are regulated in tailpipe emissions, while O3 is
regulated in ambient air [22]. Reducing exhaust emissions is an
important problem facing biodiesel as both these gas species are
slightly increased when using biodiesel in comparison to petro-
diesel fuel [23]. Hence, the cetane number can be used as
a parameter to evaluate the potential of plant oils as biodiesel.
Five plants (Table 1), which normally grow on unproductive
agricultural lands (e.g. coastal tideland, roadsides, desert and dry
regions), are potential resources as biodiesel feedstocks, including
Rhus typhina (Fig. 1A) [24,25], Kosteletzkya pentacarpos [26] (Fig. 1B
and C), Xanthium sibiricum (Fig. 1D) [27], Datura candida (Fig. 1E)
and Hibiscus trionum (Fig. 1F).
In this study, we have (i) measured seed oil content (SOC) and its
relative fatty acid content for each of the five plants, (ii) fit
a regression between the relative contents of different C18 fatty
acids and the cetane numbers of the biodiesel produced from
different plant oils by the published data, (iii) estimated the cetane
numbers of the biodiesel produced from the five plant oils in this
study by the above regression, and (iv) evaluated the potential of
the five plants as biodiesel resources, according to the seed oil
content (SOC) and the estimated cetane number.
Table 1
Five plants used in this study.
Species Growth habit
R. typhina Open and irregular, flat-topped crown,
spreads by suckering
K. pentacarpos Perennial herb, 80e150 cm height,
flowering period of Jul.eSep., fruit in Jul.eOct.
X. sibiricum Annual herb, 30e90 cm height, flowering
period of Jul.eOct., fruit in Aug.eNov.
H. trionum Herbs annual, erect or procumbent,
25e70 cm tall, flowering period of
MayeOct., fruit in Jun.eOct.
D. candida Annual herb growing into a bush up
to 2.5 m high, with white to creamy
or violet flowers. The egg-shaped seed
capsule is walnut-sized and either
covered with spines or bald
2. Material and methods
2.1. Plant materials
Seeds were collected from the five plants growing on ecologi-
cally disturbed or unproductive agricultural lands: (i) R. typhina
grew on the roadsides of Wafangdian county, Liaoning province,
China; (ii) K. pentacarpos, X. sibiricum, D. candida and H. trionum
grew in fields located in the tideland of Dalian city, Liaoning
province, China. Only clean seeds, without any kind of infection or
animal damage, were collected.
2.2. SOC and relative contents of fatty acid
Seed samples of each plant field were mixed (2 kg), packed into
plastic containers (600e700 g/container), freeze-dried, and stored
at 20  C. Acid-washed containers were used for those samples
meant for analysis of the oil and relative fatty acid contents. Before
every analysis the contents of 1e3 containers were homogenized.
All the samples were analyzed in triplicate.
Oil content was measured according to AOAC [28]. Fatty acids
were measured by the normalization method of GC-FID (Gas
Chromatography - Flame Ionization Detector). A 0.2 g sample was
added to a 20 ml test tube with a cork. Then, 0.5 mol/l NaOH (2 ml)
was added to 2 ml methanol, and the resulting mixture was boiled
at 60  C for 25 min. After cooling, 35% BF3eCH3OH (2 ml) was added
and the mixture was boiled at 60  C for 20 min in closed containers.
After cooling, 2-ml 99.9% hexane was added. After shaking, 2 ml
saturated NaCl was added. After being shaken and centrifuged, the
supernatant was transferred into a clean test tube and 2e4 drops
anhydrous sodium sulfate was added to eliminate minimum water.
The experiment was performed with a Shimadzu GC-14B gas
chromatograph equipped with a flame ionization detector (FID),
with an acidified polyethylene glycol capillary column OV-17
(30 m  0.32 mm  1.0 mm film thickness). The initial isotherm
of 150  C (1 min) was raised to 230  C at a rate of 5  C/min, and the
final isotherm was 230  C (10 min); carrier gas was nitrogen; split
ratio was 30:1. The relative contents of the different fatty acids were
determined by using the area normalization method.
2.3. Estimation of the cetane numbers of the biodiesel produced
from the five plant oils
Relative contents of the main components of fatty acid can be
used to directly determine the cetane number [20,29]. We surveyed
70 samples of relative contents of C18:0, C18:1, C18:2 and C18:3 and
the cetane number of biodiesel from our studies and published data
Ecological distribution Potential as biodiesel References
Adapts to dry, poor, soils; best in well Seed and fruit oil [24]
drained sites and roadsides in full sun.
Eastern United States and adjacent
Canada; being widely planted in China
Seaside bogs of the Caspian littoral, Seed oil [26]
along the west and south coasts
Wasteland, barrenland, uncultivated Seed oil In this study
land, slope, naturally distributes in Eurasia
Ruderal weed. Throughout China Seed oil In this study
[Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia,
Tajikistan, Uzbekistan; Pantropical]
Often found as a weed on wastelands Seed oil In this study
and in garbage dumps. Originated in
North America and now grows wild in
all the world’s warm and moderate regions
 C.-J. Ruan et al. / Renewable Energy 41 (2012) 191e199 193

Fig. 1. Five plants growing on unproductive agricultural lands: A: R. typhina [25]; B: K. pentacarpos; C: Seeds of K. pentacarpos and seed oil obtained by the method of expelling; D:
X. sibiricum [27]; E: D. candida; F: H. trionum.

Table 2
Oil content and relative contents of fatty acids in the seeds of five plants.

Item R. typhina K. pentacarpos X. sibiricum H. trionum D. candida

Oil content (%) 9.7  0.01 18.6  0.01 41.9  0.02 17.5  0.02 22.9  0.01
Lauric acid (C12:0) e 0.1% e e e
Myristic acid (C14:0) 0.1% e e 0.1% e
Pentadecanoic acid (C15:0) e 23.1% e e e
Ginkgolic acid (C15:1) e 0.2% e e e
Palmitic acid (C16:0) 8.9% e 5.7% 16.0% 13.7%
Palmitoleic acid (C16:1) e 0.2% e 0.4% e
Hexadecadienoic acid (C16:2) e 0.3% e e e
cis10Heptadecenoic acid (C17:1) e 2.8% e e e
Steartic acid (C18:0) 3.1% 2.8% 2.7% 3.4% 10.1%
Oleic acid (C18:1) 26.1% 21.0% 29.1% 27.8% 45.6%
Linoleic acid (C18:2) 60.1% 47.0% 62.5% 50.9% 30.0%
Nonadecenoic acid (C19:1) 0.3% e e e 0.5%
Arachidic acid (C20:0) 0.7% 0.4% e 0.7% e
Arachidonic acid (C20:1) 0.7% 1.6% e 0.5% e
cis11,14Eicosadienoic acid (C20:2) e 0.5% e 0.2% e
Unsaturated C18 86.2% 67.9% 91.6% 78.7% 75.7%
Unsaturated acid 87.2% 73.5% 91.6% 79.7% 76.2%

e indicates the compound is not determined because of too low contents.

194 C.-J. Ruan et al. / Renewable Energy 41 (2012) 191e199

Fig. 2. Gas chromatogram of fatty acid methyl esters in the seeds of the five plants: R. typhina (A), K. pentacarpos (B), X. sibiricum (C), H. trionum (D) and D. candida (E). In (A): 14,
myristic acid; 16, nonadecenoic acid; 17, palmitic acid; 19, linoleic acid; 20 and 21, oleic acid; 22, steartic acid; 25, arachidonic acid; 26, arachidic acid; (B): 14, lauric acid; 16,
ginkgolic acid; 17, pentadecanoic acid; 19, hexadecadienoic acid; 20, palmitoleic acid; 22, cis-10-heptadecenoic acid; 23, linoleic acid; 24 and 25, oleic acid; 26, steartic acid; 27, cis-
11,14-eicosadienoic acid; 28, arachidonic acid; 29, arachidic acid; (C): 6, palmitic acid; 7, linoleic acid; 8 and 9, oleic acid; 10, steartic acid; (D): 17, myristic acid; 19, palmitoleic acid;
20, palmitic acid; 22 and 23, linoleic acid; 24 and 25, oleic acid; 26, steartic acid; 28, arachidonic acid; 30, arachidic acid; and (E): 9, myristic acid; 10, palmitoleic acid; 11, palmitic
acid; 12, linoleic acid; 13 and 14, oleic acid; 15, steartic acid. The un-annotated numbers in (A)e(E) were peaks that relative contents were too low or from impurity.
 C.-J. Ruan et al. / Renewable Energy 41 (2012) 191e199 195

Table 3 Table 3 (continued)

Relative contents of C18 fatty acids and the cetane number (CN) in different plant
oils. Species Relative contents of C18 CN References
fatty acids (%)
Species Relative contents of C18 CN References C18:0 C18:1 C18:2 C18:3
fatty acids (%)
Zanthoxylum bungeanum 1.1 35.9 24.9 15.9 46.0b [54]
C18:0 C18:1 C18:2 C18:3 Ziziphus mauritiana Lam 5.5 64.4 12.4 e 55.4a [37]
Aegle marmelos correa Roxb 8.8 30.5 36.0 8.1 48.3a [30] R. typhina 3.1 26.1 60.1 e 45.6c This study
Aleurites fordii Hemsl e 6.5 9.0 e 36.3a [30] K. pentacarpos 2.8 21.0 46.9 e 45.9c This study
Aleurites moluccana Wild 6.7 10.5 48.5 28.5 34.2a [30] X. sibiricum 2.7 29.0 62.5 e 46.5c This study
Aleurites montana Wils e 18.2 10.7 e 20.6a [31] H. trionum 3.4 27.8 50.9 e 46.9c This study
Anamirta cocculus Wight & Hrn 47.5 46.4 e e 64.3a [31] D. candida 10.1 45.6 30.0 e 50.8c This study
Annona reticulate Linn 7.5 48.4 21.7 e 53.5a [30]  Indicates the relative content is not determined.
Aphanamixis polystachya Park 12.8 21.5 29.0 13.6 48.5a [30] a
CN estimated from reference [48].
Argemone mexicana 3.8 18.5 61.4 e 44.5a [31] b
CNs of biodiesel fuels from the matching reference cited in Table 3.
Azadirachta indica 14.4 61.9 7.5 e 57.8a [32] c
CN was the mean of CNs in Fig. 4, estimated by the regression equations 1, 2, 3
Balanites roxburghii Planch 7.8 32.4 31.3 7.2 50.5a [33] and 5 in Table 5, respectively.
Basella rubra Linn 6.5 50.3 21.6 0.4 54.0a [34]
Biteer almond 1.3 62.9 30.4 e 48.0b [35]
Broussonetia papyrifera Vent 6.1 14.8 71.0 1.0 41.3a [34]
Calophyllum apetalum Wild 14.0 48.0 30.0 e 51.6a [32]
Calophyllum inophyllum Linn 18.5 42.7 13.7 2.1 57.3a [32] [30e54]. Accordingly, the properties of the various individual fatty
Camellia oleifera 1.7 77.3 9.2 0.3 49.2b [36] esters that comprise biodiesel determine the overall fuel properties
Canabis sativa Linn e 15.0 65.0 15.0 36.4a [37] of the biodiesel fuel [55]. Azam et al. [56] used the saponification
Canarium commane Linn 9.7 38.3 21.8 1.2 55.6a [31]
number and the iodine value of fatty acid methyl esters to estimate
Celastrus paniculatus Linn 6.7 46.1 15.4 3.0 51.9a [38]
Corylus avellana 2.6 88.0 2.9 e 54.5a [37] the cetane number of seeds oils of some plants, while we fitted
Croton tiglium Linn 0.5 56.0 29.0 e 49.9a [31] a regression equation between the cetane number and relative
Ervatamia coronaria Stapf 7.2 50.5 15.8 0.6 56.3a [37] content of the four main components (C18:0, C18:1, C18:2 and
Euonymus hamiltonianuis Wall 1.5 39.1 25.8 5.3 45.5a [37]
C18:3) by regression analysis using SPSS/PC-10, in which the cetane
Euphorbia helioscopia Linn 1.1 15.8 22.1 42.7 34.3a [37]
Garcinia combogia Desr 38.3 57.9 0.8 0.4 61.5a [32]
numbers were treated as a dependent variable while the four main
Garcinia echinocarpa Thw 43.7 52.6 e e 63.1a [31] components were treated as independent variables. By fitting
Garcinia indica Choisy 56.4 39.4 1.7 e 65.2a [31] different regression equations in this study, the cetane numbers of
Garcinia morella Desr 46.4 49.5 0.9 e 63.5a [32] the biodiesel produced from the five plant oils were estimated by
Gossypium spp. 1.8 17.7 56.1 0.4 45.0b [39]
using single variable regression (the C18:0, C18:1 and C18:2
Idesia polycarpa Maxim. var. 1.6 7.2 68.6 0.9 54.0b [40]
vestita Diels content, respectively), enter multiple regression of two variables
Illicium verum Hook 7.93 63.24 24.4 e 50.7a [41] (the C18:0 and C18:1 content) and stepwise regression of three
Jatropa curcas Linn 9.7 40.8 32.1 e 52.3a [32] variables (the C18:0, C18:1 and C18:2 content).
Jatropha curcas L. 1.8 47.3 32.7 e 44.8b [42]
Joannesia princes Vell e 45.8 46.4 e 45.2a [31]
Kosteletzkya virginica 1.6 18.0 46.4 4.2 56.0b [43] 2.4. Evaluation of potential of the five plants as biodiesel resources
Madhuca butyracea Mac 14.0 46.3 17.9 e 56.6a [44]
Mallotus phillippinensis Arg 2.2 6.9 13.6 e 36.3a [32]
According to the criterion of biodiesel, the cetane number is
Mappia foetida Milers 17.7 38.4 e 36.8 50.7a [31]
Melia azadirach Linn 1.2 20.8 67.7 e 41.4a [31] >51.0 for EN14214 for bio-auto fuels in the EU and >47.0 for
Melia azedarach 3.7 21.7 67.4 0.3 47.0b [45] ASTMD6751 for biodiesel in the USA [57]. Commonly, if the oil
Mesua ferrea Linn 12.4 60.0 15.0 e 55.1a [32] content of a plant is over 15% in seeds or other oil-bearing organs, it
Meyna laxiflora Robyns 9.0 32.5 39.7 e 50.4a [46] could be considered as a potential energy plant. As such, the oil
Michelia champaca Linn 2.5 22.3 42.5 e 50.3a [37]
content in the seeds of soybean is about 18% making it one of the
Minusops hexendra Roxb 14.0 63.0 3.0 e 59.3a [31]
Momordica dioica Rox 16.9 9.2 8.8 e 36.0a [37] main energy plants used widely around the world [58]. In this
Moringa concanensis Nimmo 2.4 83.8 0.8 e 56.3a [47] study, we evaluated the potential of each plant as a biodiesel
Moringa oleifera Lam 2.7 79.4 0.7 0.2 56.7a [47] resource by its SOC and cetane number.
Myristica malabarica Lam 2.4 44.1 1.0 e 61.8a [31]
Perilla frutescens Britton e 9.8 47.5 36.2 30.1a [37]
Pongamia pinnata Pierre 6.8 49.4 19.0 e 55.8a [32] 3. Results and discussion
Princepia utilis Royle 4.5 32.6 43.6 e 48.9a [31]
Pterygota alata Rbr 8.5 44.0 32.4 e 51.1a [37]
3.1. SOC and relative contents of fatty acid
Putranjica roxburghii 15.0 56.0 18.0 e 55.0a [31]
Rhus succedanea Linn e 46.8 27.8 e 52.2a [48]
Santalum album Linn 1.0 8.6 0.8 e 42.9a [37] The SOC of the five plants ranged from 9.7% to 41.9% (Table 2).
Sapindus trifoliatus Linn 8.5 55.1 8.2 e 59.8a [49] For the woody species, R. typhina, with a SOC of 9.7% was the lowest
Sapium sebiferum 2.7 15.5 30.8 39.7 43.9b [50] among the five plants. The perennial herb, K. pentacarpos, had an
Sapium sebiferum e 15.1 31.6 44.2 45.0b [51]
Sapium sebiferum Roxb 5.9 27.4 e e 30.7a [31]
SOC of 18.6% while among the three annual herbs, the highest SOC
Saturega hortensis Linn 4.0 12.0 18.0 62.0 25.5a [37] of 41.9% was observed in X. sibiricum, followed by D. candida
Suaeda salsa 1.6 14.1 73.2 1.0 56.0b [52] (SOC ¼ 22.9%) and H. trionum (SOC ¼ 17.5%).
Swietenia mahagoni Jacq 18.4 56.0 e 16.1 52.3a [31] Fatty acid is the major component of grease. Fig. 2 shows
Tectona grandis Linn 10.2 29.5 46.4 0.4 48.3a [31]
a typical gas chromatogram of the fatty acid methyl esters in the
Terminalia bellirica Roxb e 24.0 31.0 e 56.2a [37]
Terminalia chebula Retz e 2.4 37.3 39.8 49.6a [37] seed oils of the five plants. Eight fatty acids in the seeds of R. typhina
Thevetia peruviana Merrill 10.5 60.9 5.2 7.4 57.5a [53] were identified and quantified (Table 2, Fig. 2A), and three of those
Vallaris solanacea Kuntze 14.4 35.3 40.4 e 50.3a [37] (palmitic, oleic and linoleic acids) were the major fatty acids.
Verincid fordii 2.6 16.4 22.1 0.3 34.0b [36] Unsaturated fatty acids (87.2%) predominated over the saturated
Vernonia cinerea Less e 8.0 32.0 22.0 57.5a [37]
ones (12.8%), and unsaturated C18 accounted for 86.2%. In
Ximenia americana Linn 1.2 60.8 6.7 e 61.4a [37]
K. pentacarpos, 12 fatty acids were identified and quantified
196 C.-J. Ruan et al. / Renewable Energy 41 (2012) 191e199

Table 4 K. pentacarpos and H. trionum. The remaining one plant, R. typhina,

Pearson correlations between the cetane numbers (expressed as Y) and relative
contents of four main components C18:0 (X1), C18:1 (X2), C18:2 (X3) and C18:3 (X4)
in fatty acid, using the data in Table 3.
X1 X2 X3
X2 0.169
X3 0.350a 0.548a
X4 0.065 0.456a 0.044
Y 0.500a 0.592a 0.299b
a
Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
b
Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).
(Table 2, Fig. 2B); unsaturated fatty acids (73.5%) predominated
over the saturated ones (26.5%), and unsaturated C18 amounted to
67.9%. Four fatty acids were identified and quantified in X. sibiricum
(Table 2, Fig. 2C); all unsaturated fatty acids were unsaturated C18
(91.6%). In H. trionum, nine fatty acids were identified and quanti-
fied (Table 2, Fig. 2D); unsaturated fatty acids (79.7%) predominated
over the saturated ones (20.3%), and unsaturated C18 accounted for
78.7%. Five fatty acids in the seeds of D. candida were identified and
quantified (Table 2, Fig. 2E); unsaturated fatty acids (76.2%) pre-
dominated over the saturated ones (23.8%), and unsaturated C18
totaled 75.7%.
3.2. Estimation of the cetane numbers of the biodiesel produced
from the five plant oils
According to the cetane numbers and the relative contents of
C18 fatty acids in the 70 published studies (Table 3), the cetane
number is positively and significantly correlated with the C18:0 and
C18:1 contents, and there is a significant negative correlation with
the C18:2 and C18:3 contents (Table 4). Negative significant
correlations were observed between C18:0 or C18:1 and C18:2 or
C18:3 (Table 4). Regressions between the cetane numbers and
relative contents of the four main components of C18 (C18:0, C18:1,
C18:2 and C18:3) in fatty acid (Table 5, Fig. 3) were estimated. Based
on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th regression equations in Table 5, we
estimated the cetane numbers of the biodiesel produced from the
five plant oils (Fig. 4). The mean cetane numbers of the biodiesel
produced from the five plant (R. typhina, K. pentacarpos,
X. sibiricum, H. trionum and D. candida) oils were 45.6  0.9,
45.9  1.0, 46.5  0.8, 46.9  0.6 and 50.8  0.7 (Table 3),
respectively.
3.3. Potential of the five plants as biodiesel resources
According to the SOCs and cetane numbers, our results showed
that four plants can be developed as energy plants growing on
unproductive agricultural lands, including D. candida, X. sibiricum,
is not adapted as an energy plant because of its lower SOC value,
9.7%. This could be evidenced by the following analyses.
First, except for R. typhina (SOC ¼ 9.7%), the remaining four
X4 plants could be used as potential biodiesel resources by using the
oil content as common criteria for evaluation (SOC > 15%). Seed oil
content is a key index for plant that is developed as biodiesel
0.579a resources, which directly influence the oil yield that determine its
developed potential. SOCs of K. pentacarpos (18.6%) and H. trionum
(17.5%) were higher than 15%, and equivalent to soybean widely
used as an energy plant throughout the world and whose oil
content is about 18% [58]. The SOCs of X. sibiricum (41.9%) and
D. candida (22.9%) were considerably higher than that of soybean
(SOC ¥ 18%, [58]).
Second, biodiesel fuel is a kind of mixture of higher fatty acids,
which is formed from the decomposition of glyceryl ester; its main
component is unsaturated C18 oleic acid [29]. Contents of unsatu-
rated C18 oleic acid in the seeds of the five plants used in this study
were over 67.9%, the maximum being in X. sibiricum (91.6%), the
minimum in K. pentacarpos (67.9%). According to the criterion of
biodiesel, the estimated cetane number of D. candida (50.8) was
higher than the cetane number >47.0 of ASTMD6751 in the USA.
However, compared to the criterion for biodiesel for EN14214 used
in the EU (cetane number > 51.0), the cetane numbers of the five
plants in this study still need to be improved.
There are now about 0.1 billion ha of unproductive agricultural
lands (e.g. 3  106 ha coastal tidal flats) in China, 60% of which is not
being exploited and reasonably utilized [43]. Vegetation is not only
the receiver of solar energy, but also provides the energy source of
the ecosystem to use its function. Vegetation recovery is thought to
be the most significant aspect in the utilization of unproductive
agricultural lands, especially when the plants used have high
energy, medicinal and nutritive values. Plant breeders have long
been interested in improving plants adapted to abiotic stress in
unproductive agricultural lands, and several tolerant plants with
potential interest for agriculture and environmental management
have already been identified; there has been some relative success
in over- or under expressing single or several genes by targeting
genes, proteins or enzymatic reactions that are important compo-
nents of stress tolerance or sensitivity [59e62]. However, the
alternative approach of introducing tolerance to abiotic stress into
conventional crops has, so far, not produced lines capable of
growing on high salinity water or high drought lands [63e66]. The
selection and breeding of wild tolerant plants as new plant
resources still appears to be the most feasible way to proceed in
developing agriculture for unproductive agricultural lands
[14,67,68]. Hence, four plants (D. candida, X. sibiricum,
K. pentacarpos and H. trionum) in this study, which could be
developed as energy plants growing on unproductive agricultural

Table 5
Linear regression between the cetane numbers (expressed as Y) and relative contents of four main components C18:0 (X1), C18:1 (X2), C18:2 (X3) and C18:3 (X4) in fatty acid,
using data from Table 3.

Variable ANOVA Coefficients Regression equation

(X1)a F1, 60 ¼ 20.049, P < 0.001 constant ¼ 47.109, B ¼ 0.354, Beta ¼ 0.500, t ¼ 4.478, P < 0.001 Y1 ¼ 47.109 þ 0.354X1, n ¼ 61 (R ¼ 0.550)
(X2)a F1, 70 ¼ 37.746, P < 0.001 constant ¼ 39.717, B ¼ 0.264, Beta ¼ 0.592, t ¼ 6.144, P < 0.001 Y2 ¼ 39.717 þ 0.264X2, n ¼ 71 (R ¼ 0.592)
(X3)a F1, 65 ¼ 6.382, P ¼ 0.014 constant ¼ 53.117, B ¼ 0.137, Beta ¼ 0.299, t ¼ 2.526, P ¼ 0.014 Y3 ¼ 53.117 e 0.137X3, n ¼ 66 (R ¼ 0.299)
(X4)a F1, 31 ¼ 15.669, P < 0.001 constant ¼ 52.003, B ¼ 0.298, Beta ¼ 0.579 t ¼ 3.958, P < 0.001 Y4 ¼ 52.003 e 0.298X4, n ¼ 32 (R ¼ 0.579)
(X1, X2)a F2, 59 ¼ 34.561, P < 0.001 constant ¼ 38.562, BX1 ¼ 0.288, BX2 ¼ 0.228, BetaX1 ¼ 0.408, Y5 ¼ 38.562 þ 0.288X1 þ 0.228X2, n ¼ 61
BetaX2 ¼ 0.545, tX1 ¼ 4.555, tX2 ¼ 6.085, P X2 < 0.001, PX2 < 0.001 (R ¼ 0.735)
b
(X2, X4) F2, 23 ¼ 16.842, P < 0.001 constant ¼ 46.641, BX2 ¼ 0.145, BX4 ¼ 0.316, BetaX2 ¼ 0.334, Y6 ¼ 46.641 þ 0.145X2  0.316X4, n ¼ 25
Beta X4 ¼ 0.573, tX2 ¼ 2.303, tX4 ¼ 3.951, PX2 ¼ 0.031, PX4 ¼ 0.001 (R ¼ 0.771)
1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
and 6 serial number of regression equation.
a
Enter multiple regression.
b
Stepwise regression.
 C.-J. Ruan et al. / Renewable Energy 41 (2012) 191e199 197

Fig. 3. Regression relationships between the cetane numbers and relative contents of four main components C18:0 (A), C18:1 (B), C18:2 (C) and C18:3 (D) in fatty acid.

lands, will help to develop saline - and drought-tolerant vegetable
plants for fuel, food and fiber in the face of our ever-increasing
drought and salinized world [9,14] and to solve the heavily
depleted fossil-fuel energy crisis.
In addition, when we assess the suitability of one plant used to
biodiesel by the seed oil content and the cetane number, it is
necessary to consider other essential properties besides CN, such as
cold flow, viscosity and oxidative stability, which is directly related
with the relative components of fatty acids. Cold flow properties
are useful as biodiesel quality during the cold climate, which are
dependent on the feedstock (specific type of oil, fat or grease) from
which they are made and are a strong function of the level of
saturated fat [69]. Presently, the methods for improving cold flow of
biodiesel is to mix biodiesel and diesel fuel, and the improved cloud

Fig. 4. The cetane number of the biodiesel produced from the five plants (A: R. typhina; B: K. pentacarpos; C: X. sibiricum; D: H. trionum; E: D. candida) estimated by the regression
equation 1, 2, 3 and 5 in Table 5.
198 C.-J. Ruan et al. / Renewable Energy 41 (2012) 191e199
points for the biodiesel blends correlated with the saturated frac-
tion, lower the fraction of saturates, better the cold flow [70]. One of
the most important fuel properties of biodiesel and conventional
diesel fuel derived from petroleum is viscosity. Biodiesel viscosity
at various temperatures could be predicted by saturated fatty acid
methyl esters of various chain lengths [71]. It increases with chain
length of either the fatty acid or alcohol moiety in a fatty ester or in
an aliphatic hydrocarbon [72]. Oxidation stability is an important
biodiesel fuel quality parameter. The rate of oxidation of fatty acid
methyl esters depends on the nature of fatty acids, temperature,
oxidation reaction catalysts and inhibitors contained in fats, light,
radiation intensity, etc. Oxidation stability of fatty acid methyl
esters could be increased by adding additional natural and
synthetic antioxidants [73]. Fatty acid methyl esters of vegetable
origin are more stable for oxidation comparing with methyl esters
of animal origin. Mixtures of methyl esters of animal and vegetable
origin with antioxidants were more stable compared with pure
products. The highest oxidation stability showed mixtures con-
taining 80e90% of fatty acid methyl esters of animal fat and 10e20%
of fatty acid methyl esters of vegetable oil with synthetic antioxi-
dants added [73].
4. Conclusions
According to the SOCs and the estimated cetane numbers of the
biodiesel produced from the five plant oils in this study, four plants
can be developed as potential energy plants, including D. candida
(SOC ¼ 22.9%, cetane number ¼ 50.8), X. sibiricum (SOC ¼ 41.9%,
cetane number ¼ 46.5), K. pentacarpos (SOC ¼ 18.6%, cetane
number ¼ 45.9) and H. trionum (SOC ¼ 17.5%, cetane
number ¼ 46.9). The remaining one plant, R. typhina, was not
adapted as an energy plant because of its low SOC, 9.7%. These
provide a scientific basis for growing energy plants in unproductive
agricultural lands as biodiesel resources. For example, D. candida,
an annual herb growing into a bush up to 2.5 m high in the world’s
warm and moderate regions, could be planted on unproductive
agricultural lands, such as wasteland, barrenland, salt land, desert
and dry regions. This possibly large-scale plantation will provide
a great deal of feedstock sources for potential biodiesel production.
Acknowledgments
This work was funded by the Fundamental Research Funds for
the Central Universities (DC10020102) and the Research Project of
Higher Education of Education Commission of Liaoning Province of
China (2009A150).
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