Sulfur Enhancement for the Improvement of Castor Bean Growth and Yield, and Sustainable Biodiesel Production

Ahmed Mukhtar; Masood Iqbal Awan; Sana Sadaf; Athar Mahmood; Talha Javed; Adnan Noor Shah; Rubab Shabbir; Saqer S Alotaibi; Anis Ali Shah; Robert Adamski; Dorota Siuta

doi:10.3389/fpls.2022.905738

Sulfur Enhancement for the Improvement of Castor Bean Growth and Yield, and Sustainable Biodiesel Production

Front Plant Sci. 2022 Jul 4:13:905738. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2022.905738. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Ahmed Mukhtar¹, Masood Iqbal Awan², Sana Sadaf³, Athar Mahmood¹, Talha Javed^{1

4}, Adnan Noor Shah⁵, Rubab Shabbir^{4

6}, Saqer S Alotaibi⁷, Anis Ali Shah⁸, Robert Adamski⁹, Dorota Siuta⁹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Agronomy, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
² Department of Agronomy, Sub-Campus Depalpur, Okara, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
³ Punjab Bioenergy Institute, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
⁴ College of Agriculture, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China.
⁵ Department of Agricultural Engineering, Khwaja Fareed University of Engineering and Information Technology, Rahim Yar Khan, Pakistan.
⁶ Seed Science and Technology, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
⁷ Department of Biotechnology, College of Science, Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia.
⁸ Department of Botany, University of Education, Lahore, Pakistan.
⁹ Faculty of Process and Environmental Engineering, Łódź University of Technology, Łódź, Poland.

Abstract

Due to limited conventional energy sources, there is a need to find substitute non-conventional sources of energy to meet the societal demands on a sustainable basis. Crude oil and edible oil remain major import items in Pakistan, the deficit of which can be compensated by using biomass, preferably inedible oilseeds. Therefore, the current study evaluated the role of sulfur (S) fertilization for improving yield (seed and oil) and biodiesel value of castor bean, a potential inedible crop with minimum input requirements. For this purpose, a combined approach of field experimentation and laboratory analysis was conducted to explore the potential of two castor bean cultivars (DS-30 and NIAB Gold) against four S supply rates, namely, 0, 20, 40, and 60 kg S ha^-1, in terms of growth, phenology, and yield parameters. Subsequently, the obtained seed samples were analyzed for biodiesel-related parameters in the Bio-analytical Chemistry lab, Punjab Bio-energy Institute, Faisalabad. The incremental S rates increased the seed yield for both cultivars, and the highest yield was recorded at 60 kg S ha^-1 for NIAB Gold. For NIAB Gold, the oil content increased by 7% with S fertilization at 60 kg ha^-1, and for DS-30, the oil content increased by 6% at 60 kg ha^-1. As with incremental S fertilization, the oil yield increased on a hectare basis, and the quantity of biodiesel produced also increased. Importantly, the tested quality parameters of biodiesel, except biodiesel viscosity, were in the ASTM standard range. Overall, it has been concluded that castor bean is a promising and sustainable option for producing biodiesel as it is non-competitive to food crops and requires little input.

Keywords: biodiesel; castor bean; non-edible oil; sulfur; sustainability.