THE first mention of this shrub in literature was by a Mexican historian, Francisco J. Clavijero, who observed that Indians of Baja California relished the fruit of jojoba for food and oil as a medicine for cancer and kidney disorders. Due to increasing importance of the plant, a large number of common names were introduced like buchnut, bushnut, coffee berry, coffee bush, goat berry, goat nut, hohowi (the original Indian name), jojoba, jajobe, nut bush, quinine nut, wild hazel nut and lemon leaf. The present commonly used name jojoba (hohoba) is the one being used by colonial Spaniards who took it from the Popago Indian name, “jojowi” (Gentry, 1965). Jojoba — botanically called as simmondsia chinensis (link) schneider — has been under great controversy due to nomenclature speculations and is considered under the family of Buxaceae. The plant is an evergreen desert shrub native to the Sonoran desert of Arizona , California and north-western Mexico . The climate of these areas is very harsh since the summer temperature there is as high as 54°C and the winter temperature is as low as minus 5°C. The plant survives on rocks, gravel and sand but is unfit for undrained soils.
As a potential oilseed crop, jojoba has generated universal fascination among agricultural scientists, farmers and industrialists due to its seed oil content (liquid wax) of about 50 per cent and a possible substitute for sperm whale oil — a product derived from an endangered species.
Jojoba oil is not a fat but ‘liquid wax'. Fats differ from waxes in being composed of one molecule of glycerine to which three molecules of fatty acids are attached, while waxes are composed of one molecule of a long chain alcohol to which one molecule of a fatty acid is attached.
Jojoba is the only plant in the world known to produce such a unique substance. The characteristics of jojoba seed oil are similar to those of sperm whale oil which occupies a unique place among animal fats and oils. It has been estimated that one acre of jojoba cultivation can save 50 sperm whales.
The oil is widely used in pharmaceuticals cosmetics and lubricants because of its oiliness, wetting properties and non-drying characteristics. The plant has attained the status of an industrial crop and has immense potential as a new crop species for human welfare.
Jojoba seeds have long been used by indigenous desert people to dress wounds, facilitate child birth, cure stomach problems and restore hair growth.
Jojoba seed which develop in a capsule certains no endosperum. The two closely oppressed fleshly cotyledons are filled with liquid wax. During seed maturation, there is a definite increase in oil content per seed. Male and female flowers occur on separate plants. The reproductive system is adapted so as to avoid imposing stress on the plant during times of maximum evapo-transpiration or drought by controlling flowering through the effects of temperature and water status on flower bud dermancy. The fruit (capsule) develops within about three months complete maturation. Jojoba, being a polyploid, provides a large potential for breeding varieties for agricultural use. The variability that exists in morphological and physiological characteristics such as growth rate, yield, plant habit, frequency of floral buds and flowering date, allows the plant breeder to select or breed suitable, high-yielding varieties.
Jojoba oil has high potential as a lubricant.
Because of its chemical similarity to sperm whale oil, jojoba seed oil is a possible substitute of proven efficacy. Jojoba oil is a renewable vegetable product, while sperm oil is an animal product and if the exploitation continues there is danger to the survival of this species. Jojoba oil is light yellow, non-saturated liquid of unusual stability. The oil has high boiling and freezing points. It has high thermal stability, smoke, flash and fire points.
The oil has aesthetic and technical qualities to make it a basic cosmetic ingredient. It is being used in the USA for the production of shampoos, bath oil, hand lotions, shaving creams, lipsticks, vanishing creams and skin freshners. It is also being used for the production of penicillin-G. It can also be used as an edible oil.
Because of xerophytic nature of the species and its high efficiency of water use, efforts have been concentrated on developing this crop for arid zones. Because of the tolerance of jojoba to salinity, it is possible to irrigate the species with water that is unsuitable for other crops. |
