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The purpose of this study was to determine the antioxidant activity of the seed shells and kernels of Jatropha curcas L. The extracts obtained from five solutions (0%–95% ethanol) were tested and compared. Overall, the antioxidant capacity of seed shell extracts was higher than that of seed kernel extracts. The seed shell extract obtained using 95% ethanol exhibited the best antioxidant activity among the five solutions. The half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl and free radical scavenging ability of 2,2’-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) were 13.63 ± 0.15 and 6.75 ± 0.51 μg/mL, respectively. The reduction ability and total phenol content were 95.14 ± 27.04 μg ascorbic acid equivalents/mg of extract and 536.33 ± 8.62 μg gallic acid equivalents/mg of extract, respectively. In in vitro cytotoxicity assays, solutions with less than 250 μg/mL of seed shell extract had no major cytotoxicity. The seed shell of Jatropha curcas L. can be used as an antioxidant material and has potential for biomedical applications.