Tobacco seed oil as an alternative diesel fuel: physical and chemical properties

Tobacco seed is a byproduct of tobacco leaves production in Greece. This oil seed was evaluated in the present study, as a renewable and potential source of energy. Successive tobacco seed oil extraction indicated that almost 38% of the seed was oil, The major constituents observed by GC analysis were linoleic acid (18:2), oleic acid (18:1) and palmitic acid (16:0). The physical, chemical and fuel related properties of tobacco seed oil were investigated in this work. These properties were comparable to those of other vegetable oils and to current European specifications for automotive diesel fuel. This study suggests that this non edible oil may be an appropriate substitute for diesel fuel. The environmental advantages of tobacco seed oil as a fuel can be exploited for specific niche markets such as inner city vehicles or tractors. On the other hand, tobacco seed oil as a fuel represents one possible hope for the future of EU tobacco agriculture. (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.