Pervasive System Biology for Active Compound Valorization in Jatropha

Physic nut (Jatropha curcas L.) is a tree in the family Euphorbiaceae whose members have been known for the production of important natural compounds for therapeutic applications. Physic nut is also one of the few important plant species whose genome has been fully sequenced under high scrutiny, mostly because it is a potential source of oil, which could contribute to alleviate the worldwide energy crisis. However, for being a new crop, J. curcas is not yet domesticated to the point of being industrially productive, and a long way is being undertaken to improve it by selective breeding. During the last decade, the scientific community has performed a huge effort to aggregate knowledge to this plant species. The challenge around J. curcas constitutes a fertile ground to look for natural compounds that may serve as scaffolds for new drug applications. In this chapter, we review the principal conceptual strategies that may be taken to valorize natural compounds in the genus Jatropha.