Table of Contents
Naqvi, H.H. and I.P. Ting. 1990. Jojoba: A unique liquid wax producer from
the American desert. p. 247-251. In: J. Janick and J.E. Simon (eds.),
Advances in new crops. Timber Press, Portland, OR.
Jojoba: A Unique Liquid Wax Producer from the American Desert
Himayat H. Naqvi and Irwin P. Ting
- DISTRIBUTION AND ECOLOGY
- MAJOR AGRONOMIC PROBLEMS
- Low Yields
- Frost Damage
- Insect Pest Damage and Diseases
- Lack of Crop Management Protocols
- RESEARCH ACTIVITIES AT UC RIVERSIDE
- Yield Improvement
- Crop Ecophysiology
- Frost Tolerance and Field Management
- DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
- Fig. 1
Jojoba, [Simmondsia chinensis (Link) Schneider] is a new oil-producing
industrial crop that has attracted much attention in recent years (National
Academy of Science 1985). Jojoba oil, which is commonly known as liquid wax,
is colorless and odorless with unique physical and chemical properties. Unlike
most other vegetable seed oils, which are triglycerides, jojoba oil is made of
long-chain fatty acids and fatty alcohols with no side branching. This unique
chemical configuration accords jojoba special characteristics unparalleled in
the plant kingdom. It is similar to sperm whale oil and can be substituted for
it in many applications (National Academy of Science 1985, Wisniak 1987). The
most important uses are in the cosmetic industry, as a high-temperature
high-pressure lubricant, and as a potential low-calorie edible oil. Other
possible uses are as an anti-foaming agent in the fermentation industry and as
a magnetic memory media lubricant. Jojoba oil can easily be hydrogenated into
a soft wax and can be used in candle wax, various kinds of polishes, coating
material for fruits and pills, and insulation for batteries and electrical
Presently, most of the jojoba seed produced in the United States is used in the
high-priced cosmetic industry, and many other potential markets have not been
fully developed. It is probable that as production increases and the seed
prices decrease, jojoba could penetrate into these much larger markets. There
are, however, agronomic obstacles which must first be overcome to increase
productivity. The most important among them include a shortage of
high-yielding planting material and serious damage due to frost. Our jojoba
research program at UC Riverside is designed to assist in these and other
agronomic problems as well as to understand basic physiology and genetics of
Jojoba is a native to the Sonoran Desert. Most natural populations exist only
inside a quadrangle with Riverside (California), Globe (Arizona), Guaymas
(Sonora, Mexico), and Cabo San Lucas (Baja California, Mexico) as its four
corners, and comprise about 100,000 square miles between latitudes 25° and
34° North. These disjunct jojoba populations occur from sea level to about
1,500 m altitude on coarse, sandy or gravelly soils with good water drainage.
The rainfall in the area ranges from 75 mm to about 400 mm, and the plant
communities are exposed to temperatures between -9°C and 50°C
Jojoba is a perennial, dioecious, evergreen shrub or small tree that lives
under diverse environmental conditions. It has an extensive and deep root
system and requires little care if maximum seed production is not desired.
Jojoba is valuable as a soil conservation and landscape plant for highway
shoulders, city parks, and other places that cannot afford much care.
Jojoba has been well known by indigenous Amerinds living in what is now Sonora
and Baja California who used jojoba seed and oil for cooking, hair care, and
many medical treatments. The first taxonomic description appeared in 1822,
when Johann Link of The Berlin Botanical Garden named it as Buxus chinensis.
It was later changed to Simmondsia californica by Thomas Nuttall in
1844. Finally, in 1912, the Austrian botanist, Camillo Karl Schneider, renamed
it as Simmondsia chinensis. Although earlier botanists placed jojoba in
the family Buxaceae, many other botanists believe that it should be placed in
its own family due to its morphological and anatomical distinctiveness.
The first experimental jojoba planting was established at The Boyce Thompson
Southwestern Arboretum, in Superior, Arizona, in 1925. Later, jojoba seed from
these and the wild stands in the area were sent to the University of Arizona at
Tucson, for chemical analyses. A major breakthrough came in 1935, when the
University of Arizona chemists declared the uniqueness of the jojoba seed
compared to other conventional oil-seed crops. It was also established that
jojoba oil was very similar to sperm whale oil which was commonly used as an
important high-temperature and high-pressure lubricant. Many laboratories
started working on the chemical nature of jojoba oil, and many patents were
filed on its various applications. However, since sperm whale oil was readily
available at that time, jojoba domestication and agronomic development lagged
behind. Many plant explorers and botanists continued research into various
aspects of jojoba distribution and natural history, which appeared in
scientific publications during the following few years.
The greatest impetus to jojoba domestication came in 1969 when the Endangered
Species Conservation Act was passed and sperm whales were put on the protected
species list. In 1971, the United States banned the import of sperm whale oil,
and the industry was forced to search for a substitute. Jojoba entered a new
era of interest and industrial acceptability
Although small-scale experimental plantations of jojoba were already in
existence at the University of California, Riverside, and other places by the
end of the 1960s, a major jojoba commercialization activity centered around the
San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation (Office of Arid Lands Studies and Midwest
Research Institute, 1980). The U.S. Office of Economic Opportunity (OEC), in
1972, funded the first experimental harvest of jojoba seed at San Carlos
Reservation. The overall goals of the harvest were to collect significant
amounts of seed for extraction and distribution to research laboratories for
evaluation, and to also provide a source of income for participating native
Americans. Over 23 tons of dry jojoba seed were harvested during the first 3
years of the project; most of that was sent to process developers in the
industry This project was turned into a big enterprise during the next few
years. They continued to harvest approximately an average of 13 tons of seed
per year during the 1975-1977 period, and it reached a record high yield of 30
tons in 1978. Realizing the importance of agronomic development of the plant,
the San Carlos Apache Tribal Council, with the help of public funds,
established a 9 ha jojoba plantation near the Dripping Springs cattle pens on
the Reservation. Unfortunately, a record low temperature in the area killed
about 85% of the plants. The following year, the Reservation also began
operating its first jojoba seed processing facility, and San Carlos became a
center of jojoba seed and processed oil. The San Carlos tribal enterprise
entered into a contract with the University of Arizona for technical assistance
in replanting the damaged pilot plantation on the reservation. The following
winter was again very severe and the resulting freeze again resulted in a major
failure on the Reservation. Some activities did continue for a time, but
ultimately the project collapsed completely
The strong demand for jojoba oil in the late 1970s initiated a new era in the
history of jojoba development in the United States. The popular press labeled
it as the "golden wax," which lured many entrepreneurs and non-agricultural
venture capitalists to jump on the band wagon. They rushed to buy large areas
of land in the lower desert of California and Arizona, which was mostly under
irrigated cotton crop previously. These lands were planted with wild-picked
jojoba seed because of the unavailability of high-yielding varieties and the
inexperience of the producers who rushed to get into the business.
According to Harington (1987), and McKay (1987), plantation establishments were
initiated in 1978. By 1982, it reached about 8,000 ha, hit a peak of about
16,000 ha in 1985 and leveled off. The first harvest from these commercial
plantations were made in 1982. Seed harvests continued as approximately 50
tons in 1823,200 tons in 1984,120 tons in 1985,470 tons in 1986, 500 tons in
1987, and over 1,000 tons harvested in 1988. Jojoba seed prices have also been
fluctuating during the past few years (Watson, 1987). Seed were sold for about
$3.00 per kg in 1976, continuously rose to over $10.00 per kg in 1981, and
gradually declined to about $3.50 per kg in 1987. It is selling at a slightly
higher price this year. There are two points that need mentioning here. The
first is that most of the yields are based on only 20-25% of the total
plantations that have been continuously harvested since 1982. The condition of
the rest of the plantations is so poor that it did not justify harvesting them.
According to estimates, about two-thirds of all the jojoba plantings have
either been already abandoned, or will do so in the near future. The second
point is that the yield increases during the last few years can be attributed
to improvements made in some crop management practices, and the establishment
of clonally propagated fields by some growers. Some public and private
organizations played an important role in these accomplishments, but a lot more
needs to be done in order to make jojoba a viable major industrial crop.
According to a Jojoba Growers Association Report (1987), the average harvested
yield for 1987 was about 130 kg/ha from vegetatively-propagated fields, and 92
kg/ha from seed-planted fields. Most of the vegetatively propagated fields had
not reached their maximum potential at that time. Some individual growers
reported up to 800 kg/ha from their small-scale upgraded seeded fields, and up
to 2,000 kg/ha from their vegetatively propagated experimental plots. These
were exceptions, rather than the rule. All the plantations in these yield
surveys were irrigated, fertilized, and supposedly better managed. The
significant yield increases in the vegetatively propagated fields indicates
great potential for yield improvement through the development of high-yielding
Frost damage is the major agronomic problem limiting successful cultivation of
jojoba in the southwestern United States. Major damage has occurred in each of
the last 5 years, mostly in Arizona. In jojoba, the process of flower
initiation and development takes about 14 months. The timing of frost is very
critical. Frost at anthesis may kill flowers, resulting in complete loss of
seed production the following summer. Flower anthesis has coincided with frost
episodes in many plantations in Arizona, causing significant losses.
During the 1987 and 1988 harvest season, many growers in Arizona suffered
serious losses due to pest damage. Some of the most common pests included
thrips, citrus cutworm, stinkbug, grasshoppers, and loopers (Whittaker 1988)
resulting in losses of up to one million dollars per year. Registration for
pesticides for these insects is currently being sought by the jojoba Growers
Association. Verticillium wilt, Texas root rot, dry root rot, and other
diseases have been reported but serious crop damage has not occurred.
Management protocols are fairly straight-forward for those who grow
conventional crops and buy improved seed and obtain management advice from
their county or university extension services. Unfortunately, none of these
facilities is available to the jojoba growers who must develop their own
planting material and learn management on an ad hoc basis. Only a few of the
scientifically oriented and financially stable growers have established working
relationships with the university researchers and obtained helpful advice along
with superior plant material. Help is practically non-existent for most jojoba
and other new crop growers due to the changing research priorities in public
institutions in the United States.
The main objectives of the jojoba research program at UCR are to develop
high-yielding and frost-tolerant jojoba cultivars and to understand the crop
physiology of the plant in order to develop appropriate management practices
(Naqvi et al. 1988a, 1988b).
Jojoba is a dioecious, cross-pollinated species although plants with
hermaphroditic flowers can be found. Genetic variability is high. For
example, seed yield from the progeny of a single plant varied from 210 g to
1,195 g per plant. One crop improvement strategy is to follow a recurrent
selection program to increase the frequency of high-yielding plants in each
generation. Some progress has been made (Naqvi and Ting, 1989) but for a
perennial shrub like jojoba, this is a long-term approach. Short-term gain can
be obtained by clonal multiplication of selected pistillate plants. Semi-green
shoots root easily and permit rapid multiplication of a superior clone. Once
the existing variability is exhausted, more desired traits in the population
will have to be developed through recombination and perhaps biotechnological
procedures. A systematic screening of our plants during the past two years
suggests that jojoba germplasm at UCR has the potential to develop clones
capable of producing over 4,000 g of seed per pistillate plant (Naqvi et al.,
1988a). With approximately 2,000 pistillate plants per hectare, this could be
a significant breakthrough (Fig. 1).
A clear understanding of the ecology and physiology of a species is essential
for developing proper cultural and management practices. Since jojoba is being
developed as an arid land crop, water stress and low temperature are the
important aspects of our investigations. Jojoba plants growing under 3
irrigation regimes at UCR, and also in a typical Baja California jojoba
community near Boojum National Park, were monitored for leaf water potential
and gas exchange parameters. Preliminary results suggest that jojoba is a
drought-resistant plant that can survive under low leaf water potential.
Moreover, it can adjust its photosynthetic apparatus to a high level of
water-stress without becoming dormant. The orientation of the leaves, and
stomatal adjustments help the plant favorably survive under these conditions.
It is possible, under these circumstances, to obtain a reasonable yield without
much irrigation. The next important question is to find out how much
irrigation will be required to harvest a profitable yield.
Our research indicates that jojoba has the capacity to "supercool" to many
degrees below the freezing point (Goldstein et al. 1989). The objective of the
experiment was to determine if the water-balance of the plant affects its
susceptibility to frost. Young leaves and buds of the jojoba plants grown
under normal irrigation and water stress conditions were subjected to slow
cooling in a refrigerated water bath programmed to go to -25°C. The
appearance of isotherms on the recorder indicated the freezing of the tissue
being monitored. The tissues collected from the water-stressed plants froze at
-17°C, i.e., 5°C below the tissues collected from the well-irrigated
plants. This indicates that a mild water stress to the plant before the onset
of frost may help reduce frost damage.
Jojoba is one of our first native plants to be grown as an oil-producing cash
crop in the United States. It produces a product that is unique in the plant
kingdom. Jojoba is very drought-resistant and can be grown on marginal lands
in the southwest without replacing any existing crops. For optimum production,
the crop needs irrigation, care, and a good cultivar.
Jojoba became partially commercialized before any standard cultivars were
developed. Many aspects of crop management, including irrigation scheduling,
frost protection, and pest and pathogen management, were also unknown. As a
result, many of the early growers have vanished, and those that survived are
facing serious problems. It is estimated that most of the existing plantations
will have to be removed and re-established. There is a serious need for
research into the areas of crop production and improvement.
At UCR, we have the largest collection of diverse jojoba germplasm that has
been assembled during the past quarter of a century (Yermanos 1979, 1982). In
our crop improvement programs, many potential clones capable of increasing
existing yield have been identified and some have already been released to
- Goldstein, G., H.H. Naqvi, D. Yakir, T. Ceccardi, and I.P. Ting. 1989.
Supercooling and low temperature stress in Simmondsia chinensis, a
drought-tolerant evergreen species. Oecologia (submitted for publication).
- Harington, T. 1987. Commercial jojoba acres and yields. Jojoba Happenings
- McKay, S. 1987. JGA acreage and harvest surveys: 1986-1987. p. 28-31. In: Proc.
Jojoba feasibility seminar, Los Angeles, California, November 14, 1987.
- Naqvi, H.H., G. Goldstein, C. Ratnayaka, T. Ceccardi and I.P. Ting. 1988a.
Jojoba breeding and agronomic investigations at UC Riverside, p. 395-409, In:
Baldwin, A.R. (ed.), Proc. 7th Intern. Jojoba Conf., Phoenix, Arizona, January
17-22, 1988, Amer. Oil. Chem. Soc., Champaign, Illinois.
- Naqvi, H.H., G. Goldstein, and I.P. Ting. 1988b. jojoba: A new multipurpose
industrial crop for and environments. El Guayulero 10(1&2):8-14.
- Naqvi H.H., and I.P. Ting. 1990. Variability in seed characteristics of
unselected and selected jojoba populations. HortScience 25(3):364.
- National Academy of Sciences. 1985. Jojoba-New crop for arid lands, new raw
material for industry. Report of an Ad Hoc Panel, Washington, DC.
- Office of Arid Lands Studies and Midwest Research Institute. 1980. The
development of an Indian Reservation based jojoba industry. Office of Arid
Lands Studies, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, Final Report, February
- Watson, W. 1987. Jojoba marketing: the challenges and successes. p. 74-83. In:
Proc. jojoba feasibility seminar, Los Angeles, California, November 14,1987.
- Whittaker, C.A. 1988. Pesticide registration sought for Jojoba. Jojoba
- Wisniak, J. 1987. The chemistry and technology of jojoba oil. Amer. Oil Chem.
Soc., Champaign, Illinois.
- Yermanos, D.M. 1979. Jojoba-A crop whose time has come. California Agriculture
- Yermanos, D.M. 1982. Jojoba-Out of the ivory tower and into the real world of
agriculture. University of California, Riverside, Special Publications.
Fig. 1. An improved jojoba selection at UCR Agricultural Experiment
Last update August 27, 1997