Biophysicochemical Evaluation and Micropropagation Studies on Neem for Biodiesel Production

Department of Biotechnology, Gulbarga University, Gulbarga 585106, Karnataka, India. [email protected] and [email protected] ABSTRACT: In this experiment the seed oils of 30 Neem (Azadirachta indica. A. juss) biotypes were screened and evaluated for their physio-chemical parameters for oil content, biodiesel yield, density, viscosity, iodine value , free fatty acid, saponification value, flash point and fire point which were estimated for selection of the elite neem biotype. The best shoot regeneration (60%-80%) was observed in Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with naphthalene acetic acid NAA (0.2-0.4 mg/L) and benzyl amino purine BAP (0.2-0.4 mg/L). Root induction (80%) was successfully obtained in MS medium supplemented with IBA (0.05 mg/L) and IAA (0.05 mg/L). Acclimatization and hardening was quite successful with survival rate of 60%.