Created : Wednesday, 1 September 2010 | Last Update Wednesday, 1 December 2010
What is Kemiri Reutealis Trisperma
(Reutealis trisperma (Blanco) Airy Shaw)?
Introduction
Kemiri(Reutealis trisperma (Blanco) Airy Shaw) which is known as Philippine tung is a plant species of the family Euphorbiaceae and of the monotypic genus Reutealis. In International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) 2006 Red List, Kemiri Reutealis Trisperma is one of the Threatened Species and it is listed as Vulnerable (VU A1cd v2.3).
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data List), founded in 1948, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of plant and animal species. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) is the world's main authority on the conservation status of species. A series of Regional Red Lists are produced by countries or organizations, which assess the risk of extinction to species within a political management unit.
The IUCN Red List is set upon precise criteria to evaluate the extinction risk of thousands of species and subspecies. These criteria are relevant to all species and all regions of the world. The aim is to convey the urgency of conservation issues to the public and policy makers, as well as help the international community to try to reduce species extinction.
In IUCN Red List, Species are classified in nine groups, set through criteria such as rate of decline, population size, area of geographic distribution, and degree of population and distribution fragmentation.
Extinct (EX) - No individuals remaining.
When discussing the IUCN Red List, the official term "threatened" is a grouping of three categories: Critically Endangered, Endangered, and Vulnerable.
Kemiri Reutealis, based on IUCN Red List, is classified as Vulnerable Species.
Characteristics of Kemiri Minyak
Kemiri Reutealis Trisperma is presently grow naturally in West Java, Indonesia (Duke, 1983). Recently it is being cultivated in the area of Subang by our company.
The optimum climate to grow Kemiri Minyak is at temperature 18,7–26,2oC and pH 5,4–7,1.
Kemiri Reutealis Trisperma Grows at low to medium level. In West Java, it is found growing at an elevation of more than 1000 meter (Hyne, 1987).
Grows as a pole, height can reach 15 meter or more, live until more than 75 years and have a tight and wide canopy. The tight and wide canopy enables the tree to hold rain drops falling directly to the soil surface, so that prevent erosion and increasing absorption of water into the soil. Single Rooted anchorage enables to prevent land slide. Its tick leaves (reaches thousands leaves/tree) are able to tie carbon dioxide and produces plenty of oxygen.
Planting Kemiri Reutealis Trisperma will create a tremendous multiplier effects. Besides being the precise solution to the critical land area rehabilitation, it also produces the alternative sustainable fuel. There will be more opportunities for the development of technology to produce the alternative fuel to replace the fossil fuel. One of the technologies is the use of green fuel as biodiesel. The sustainable green fuel can be obtained from Kemiri Reutealis Trisperma’s and Jatropha Curcas’ seeds.
The greatest potency of the Kemiri Reutealis Trisperma lies on the fruit which consists of nut and shell. In the nut stay seed and seed’s skin. The seed is being processed to produce oil and will be used as source of alternative energy to replace solar after further process.
The seed produces approx. 56% (Vassen & Umali, 2001). To obtain the oil the seed has to be pressed first. The result of the pressing is a yellow clear liquid oil and solid waste.
The oil composition consists of palmitic acid 10%, stearic acid 9%, oleic acid 12%, linoleic acid 19% and alpha-eaeostrearic 51%. The alpha-elaeostearic acid explains about the poison content in the oil.
Kemiri Reutealis Trisperma oil resulting from pressing is then being processed further to become bio diesel. Besides being used as bio diesel it is also used for various industrial products. Among others are for varnish, paint, soap, linoleum, cloth oil, resin, sintetic rubber, lubricant, abbrasive and a mixture for polisher, food and medicine container protector, covering wire and other metal surface as used in radio, radar, telephone and telegraph equipment (duke, 1978).
The remaining of the extraction in the form of solid waste or cake contains 6% nitrogen, 1.7% potassium and 0.5% phosphor. The cake can be processed further to become biogas. 3 kg cake produces 1.5M³ biogas or equivalent to 1 litre kerosene.
The waste cake after being used to produce biogas can be used for manure. 1 Hectare paddy field needs 15- kg (N content 45%) urea fertilizer. Assumed in 1 kg waste biogas cake contains 6% of N, it will need approx. 7.2 waste biogas cakes per hectare.