KUALA LUMPUR, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- Malaysian scientists have discovered an alternative fuel to fossil petrol and diesel from the seeds of the egusi melon, the national news agency Bernama reported on Friday.

The fuel source from the egusi seeds could reduce petrol cost by 20 percent and diesel cost by 10 percent, said Nor Mariah Adam, head of the Alternative Renewable Energy Laboratory at Institute of Advanced Technology, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Serdang, central state of Selangor.

"The difference in costs will even be greater with the rising costs of fossil fuels like petrol and diesel.

"The egusi seed oil has the potential to be processed into petrol and diesel for commercial use as it is lighter, harvesting of the seeds is easy and more economical compared to palm oil and jathropa, among the sources of biodiesel," Bernama quoted Mariah as saying.

The research has also found the egusi oil to be low in fatty acid, melts easily and increases combustion.

According to Mariah, before the egusi seed oil is processed into biofuel, it has to be mixed with suitable catalysts to obtain stability.

"If the egusi seed oil is processed into petrol, the size of the vehicle carburettor needs to be modified," she added.

The research had good potential as the egusi melon could easily be grown in Malaysia, reaching maturity within three months, she said.

"It all started when I read in the Internet about how the Africans process the egusi seeds into cooking oil. So, I got the idea to study the potential of its use as vehicle fuel," said Mariah.

The research was just the start and would require further scientific tests before the biofuel could be commercialized, Mariah said.

"My research work will first focus on diesel as the fuel is widely used in the agriculture sector, to be followed by biopetrolas the scientific experiments will be more complicated," she added.

Egusi (Colocynthis citrullus lanatus) is among 300 melon species found in tropical Africa. The fruit looks so much like a small, round watermelon but is not edible as its white flesh is dry and bitter enough to be repulsive. The seeds which resemble large, white melon seeds, are usually eaten as a snack or used in cooking.