I would obtain and/or propagate it exclusively from cuttings of confirmed fully-edible non-toxic types. The risk of cross-pollination with toxic types seems like too much... Even if you got seeds from the right plant, if it was pollinated by a toxic type, the seedling could bear toxic nuts. And even if it wasn't pollinated by a toxic type, what do we know of its genetic inheritance? There may be some combination of recessive and dominant traits that could lead to a reversion in subsequent generations, leading to toxic nuts from non-toxic stock. This is all speculation on my part, but I personally would rather not risk it. I like the sound of this crop, and I personally intend to acquire it. But I'm only willing to get it as a cutting, from a tree whose owner eats the nuts on a regular basis. What better confirmation of it's lack of toxicity than a healthy consumer? Those are my two cents.
my thoughts exactly.
i would ONLY trust it from cuttings. (or air-layer etc...)
here is the video i had originally found on this...
i cut the video to start at the Jatropha
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbbcqBVldX4#t=10m37sThe guy in the video is Josh Jamison he is the head of agricultural operations at H.E.A.R.T. in Lake whales.
Office: 863.638-1188
info@heartvillage.org
He mentions there is a variety of Jatropha that is edible
"selected form brought back from Mexico by Julia Morton"
https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Julia_MortonJulia Morton is well known for her work with poison plants, as well as fruits for S Fla.
(and other stuff... an amazing woman)
i use this website all the time to find out about growing conditions of certain plants...
Fruits of Warm Climates (1987)
https://hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/index.htmlSHe writes...
The poisoning is irritant, with acute abdominal pain and nausea about 1/2 hour following ingestion. Diarrhea and nausea continue but are not usually serious. Depression and collapse may occur, especially in children. Two seeds are strong purgative. Four to five seed are said to have caused death, but the roasted seed is said to be nearly innocuous. Bark, fruit, leaf, root, and wood are all reported to contain HCN (Watt and Breyer-Brandwijk, 1962). Seeds contain the dangerous toxalbumin curcin, rendering them potentially fatally toxic.
https://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/duke_energy/Jatropha_curcas.html