The Benefit of the Castor oil plant

by Mike July 30, 2011

Ayurvedic medicine considers castor oil the king of medicinal for curing arthritic diseases.

Its seed is the castor bean which, despite its name, is not a true bean. Castor is indigenous to the southeastern Mediterranean Basin, Eastern Africa, and India, but is widespread throughout tropical regions (and widely grown elsewhere as an ornamental plant).

Castor seed is the source of castor oil, which has a wide variety of uses. The seeds contain between 40% and 60% oil that is rich in triglycerides, mainly ricinolein. The seed contains ricin, a toxin, which is also present in lower concentrations throughout the plant.

Another plant species, Fatsia japonica, is similar in appearance and is known as the false castor oil plant.

Description:

The handsome leaves are placed alternately on the stem, on long, curved, purplish foot-stalks, with drooping blades, generally 6 to 8 inches across, sometimes still larger, palmately cut for three fourths of their depth into seven to eleven lance-shaped, pointed, coarsely toothed segments. When fully expanded, they are of a blue-green color, paler beneath and smooth; when young, they are red and shining.

The flowers are male and female on the same plant, and are produced on a clustered, oblong, terminal spike. The male flowers are placed on the under portion of the spike; they have no corolla, only a green calyx, deeply cut into three to five segments, enclosing numerous, much branched, yellow stamens. The female flowers occupy the upper part of the spike and have likewise no corolla. The three narrow segments of the calyx are, however, of a reddish color, and the ovary in their centre is crowned by deeply-divided, carmine-red threads (styles). The fruit is a blunt, greenish, deeply-grooved capsule less than an inch long, covered with soft, yielding prickles in each of which a seed is developed. The seeds of the different cultivated varieties differ much in size and in external markings but average seeds are of an oval, laterally compressed form. The smaller, annual varieties yield small seeds- the tree forms, large seeds. They have a shining, marble-grey and brown, thick, leathery outer coat, within which is a thin, dark-colored, brittle coat. A large, distinct, leafy embryo lies in the middle of a dense, oily tissue (endosperm). The seeds contain a toxic substance which makes them actively poisonous, so much so that three large seeds have been known to kill an adult.

The castor oil plant can vary greatly in its growth habit and appearance. The variability has been increased by breeders who have selected a range of cultivars for leaf and flower colors, and for oil production. It is a fast-growing, suckering perennial shrub which can reach the size of a small tree (around 12 meters / 39 feet), but it is not cold hardy.

The glossy leaves are 15–45 centimeters (5.9–18 in) long, long-stalked, alternate and palmate with 5–12 deep lobes with coarsely toothed segments. In some varieties they start off dark reddish purple or bronze when young, gradually changing to a dark green, sometimes with a reddish tinge, as they mature. The leaves of some other varieties are green practically from the start, whereas in yet others a pigment masks the green color of all the chlorophyll-bearing parts, leaves, stems and young fruit, so that they remain a dramatic purple-to-reddish-brown throughout the life of the plant. Plants with the dark leaves can be found growing next to those with green leaves, so there probably is only a single gene controlling the production of the pigment in some varieties at least. The stems (and the spherical, spiny seed capsules) also vary in pigmentation. The fruit capsules of some varieties are more showy than the flowers.

The flowers are borne in terminal panicle-like inflorescences of green or, in some varieties, shades of red monoecious flowers without petals. The male flowers are yellowish-green with prominent creamy stamens and are carried in ovoid spikes up to 15 centimeters (5.9 in) long; the female flowers, born at the tips of the spikes, have prominent red stigmas.

The fruit is a spiny, greenish (to reddish purple) capsule containing large, oval, shiny, bean-like, highly poisonous seeds with variable brownish mottling. Castor seeds have a warty appendage called the caruncle, which is a type of elaiosome. The caruncle promotes the dispersal of the seed by ants (myrmecochory).

Cultivars:

Selections have been made by breeders for use as ornamental plants (heights refer to plants grown as annuals) and for commercial production of castor oil

Ornamental varieties:

'Gibsonii' has red-tinged leaves with reddish veins and pinkish-green seed pods;

'Carmencita Pink' is similar, with pinkish-red stems;

'Carmencita Bright Red' has red stems, dark purplish leaves and red seed pods;

(all the above grow to around 1.5 meters (4.9 ft) tall as annuals)

'Impala' is compact (only 1.2 meters / 3.9 feet tall) with reddish foliage and stems, brightest on the young shoots;

'Red Spire' is tall (2–3 meters/6.6–9.8 feet) with red stems and bronze foliage;

'Zanzibarensis' is also tall (2–3 meters/6.6–9.8 feet), with large, mid-green leaves (50 centimeters / 20 inches long) that have white midribs.

Varieties for oil production:

'Hale' was launched in the 1970s for the State of Texas, USA. It is short (up to 1.2 m) and has several racemes.

'Brigham' is a variety with reduced ricin content adapted for Texas, USA. It grows up to 1.8m and has 10% of the ricin content of variety Hale.

'BRS Nordestina' was developed by Embrapa (Brazil) 1990 for hand harvest and semi-arid environments.

'BRS Energia" was developed by Embrapa (2004) for mechanized or hand harvest.

'GCH6' was developed by Sardarkrushinaga Dantiwada University (India), 2004. It is resistant to root rot and tolerant to fusarium wilt.

'GCH5' was developed by Sardarkrushinaga Dantiwada University (India), 1995. It is resistant to fusarium wilt.

'Abaro' was developed by Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, EORC(Ethiopia) for hand harvest.

History:

Castor seeds have been found in Egyptian tombs dating back to 4000 BC; the slow burning oil was used mostly to fuel lamps. Herodotus and other Greek travelers noted the use of castor seed oil for lighting, body ointments, and improving hair growth and texture. Cleopatra is reputed to have used it to brighten the whites of her eyes. The Ebers Papyrus is an ancient Egyptian medical treatise believed to date from 1552 BC. Translated in 1872, it describes castor oil as a laxative.

The use of castor bean oil ("eranda") in India has been documented since 2000 BC in lamps and in local medicine as a laxative, purgative, and cathartic in Unani, Ayurvedic and other ethno medical systems. Traditional Ayurvedic medicine considers castor oil the king of medicinal for curing arthritic diseases.

Castor seed and its oil have also been used in China for centuries, mainly prescribed in local medicine for internal use or use in dressings.

It was used in rituals of sacrifice to please the gods in early civilizations.

Castor oil is known to have been used as an instrument of coercion by the paramilitary Black shirts under the regime of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. Dissidents and regime opponents were forced to ingest the oil in large amounts, triggering severe diarrhea and dehydration, which could ultimately cause death. This punishment method was originally thought of by Gabriele D'Annunzio, the Italian poet and Fascist supporter, during the First World War.

It was known to Herodotus, who calls it Kiki, and states that it furnishes oil much used by the Egyptians, in whose ancient tombs seeds of Ricinus are met with. At the period when Herodotus wrote (the fourth century B.C.), it would appear to have been already introduced into Greece, where it is cultivated to the present day under the same ancient name. The Kikajon of the Book of Jonah, rendered by the translators of the English Bible, 'gourd,' is believed to be the same plant. Kiki is also mentioned by Strabo as a production of Egypt, the oil from which is used for burning in lamps and for unguents. Theophrastus and Dioscorides, in the first century, describe the plant, Dioscorides giving an account of the process for extracting the oil and saying that it is not fit for food, but is used externally in medicine, and stating that the seeds are extremely purgative. Pliny, about the same time, also speaks of it as a drastic purgative.

We read of it being employed medicinally in Europe during the early Middle Ages: it is recorded that it was cultivated by Albertus Magnus, Bishop of Ratisbon, in the middle of the thirteenth century, but later it fell into disuse, though Gerard (1597) was familiar with it under the name of Ricinus or Kik: the oil, he says, is called Oleum cicinum and used externally in skin diseases. As a garden plant, it was well known in this country in the time of Turner (1551). In the eighteenth century, its cultivation in Europe as a medicinal plant had, however, practically ceased, and the small supplies of the seeds and oil required for European medicine were obtained from Jamaica. The name 'Castor' was indeed originally applied about this period to the plant in Jamaica, where it seems to have been called 'Agnus Castus,' though it bears no resemblance to the South European plant properly so called. The botanical name is from the Latin Ricinus (a dog-tick), from the form and markings of the seed.

Constituents:

The seeds contain 50 per cent of the fixed oil, which is a viscid fluid, almost colorless when pure, possessing only a slight odor and mild, yet highly nauseous and disagreeable taste. Its specific gravity is high for an oil, being 0.96, a little less than that of water, and it dissolves freely in alcohol, ether and glacial acetic acid. It contains Palmitic and several other fatty acids, among which there is one - Ricinoleic acid - peculiar to itself. This occurs in combination with glycerine, constituting the greater part of the bulk of the oil. The oil is decomposed by the fat-splitting ferments of the intestinal canal liberating this irritant Ricinoleic acid, to which the purgative action is considered in all probability to be due.

The seeds themselves and the cake left after the expression of the oil is violently purgative, a property which is due to the presence of the highly toxic albumin Ricin. The seeds are never employed in this country on account of their violent action. Ricin exhibits its highest toxicity when injected into the blood. It is of interest to note that the work upon which is based the whole science of Serum therapeutics was carried out by Ehrlich with Ricin. He found that by injecting gradually increasing doses, immunity was established, a condition which he attributed to the formation of an antibody and termed Antiricin.

Medicinal Action and Uses:

Castor Oil is regarded as one of the most valuable laxatives in medicine. It is of special service in temporary constipation and wherever a mild action is essential, and is extremely useful for children and the aged. It acts in about five hours, affecting the entire length of the bowel, but not increasing the flow of bile, except in very large doses. The mode of its action is unknown. The oil will purge when rubbed into the skin, or injected. It is also used for expelling worms, after other special remedies have been administered.

The oil varies much in activity - the East Indian is the more active, but the Italian has the least taste.

Castor Oil is an excellent solvent of pure alkaloids and such solutions of Atropine, Cocaine, etc., as are used in ophthalmic surgery. It is also dropped into the eye to remove the after-irritation caused by the removal of foreign bodies.

Skin Care:

Organic certified Castor seeds Extract is used for is natural anti oxidant and anti aging properties in skin care products as a natural component of anti wrinkle, natural anti aging, miracle lift and a solvent for fragrance material in natural skin care. Castor Oil forms a clean, light-colored soap, which dries and hardens well and is free from smell. It has been recommended for medicinal use. The inferior qualities of the oil are frequently employed in India for soap-making. Externally, the oil has been recommended for various cutaneous complaints, such as ringworm, itch, etc. The fresh leaves are used by nursing mothers in the Canary Islands as an external application, to increase the flow of

Toxicity:

The toxicity of raw castor beans due to the presence of ricin is well-known. Although the lethal dose in adults is considered to be 4 to 8 seeds, reports of actual poisoning are relatively rare. According to the 2007 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records, this plant is the most poisonous in the world.

If ingested, symptoms may be delayed by up to 36 hours but commonly begin within 2–4 hours. These include a burning sensation in mouth and throat, abdominal pain, purging and bloody diarrhea. Within several days there is severe dehydration, a drop in blood pressure and a decrease in urine. Unless treated, death can be expected to occur within 3–5 days, however in most cases a full recovery can be made.

Poisoning occurs when animals ingest broken seeds or break the seed by chewing. Intact seeds may pass through the digestive tract without releasing the toxin. The toxin provides the castor oil plant with some degree of natural protection from insect pests, such as aphids. In fact, ricin has been investigated for its potential use as an insecticide. The castor oil plant is also the source for undecylenic acid, a natural fungicide.

Note that commercially available cold pressed Caster Oil is not toxic to humans in normal doses, neither internal or externally.

'Castor Oil is finding increasing uses in the industrial world. It figures largely in the manufacture of the artificial leather used in upholstery; it furnishes a coloring for butter, and from it is produced the so-called 'Turkey-red' oil used in the dyeing of cotton textures. It is an essential component in some artificial rubbers, in various descriptions of celluloid, and in the making of certain waterproof preparations, and one of the largest uses is in the manufacture of transparent soaps. It also furnishes sebacic acid which is employed in the manufacture of candles, and caprylic acid, which enters into the composition of varnishes, especially suitable for the polishing of high-class furniture and carriage bodies Other modern uses

In Brazil, castor oil (locally known as mamona oil) is now being used to produce biodiesel. In rural areas, the abundant seeds are used by children for slingshot balls, as they have the right weight, size, and hardness.

The attractive castor seeds are used in jewelry, mainly necklaces and bracelets. This practice is highly dangerous, due to the extreme toxicity of the seeds, especially if the seedcoat is drilled for stringing.

Castor oil in a processed form, called Polyglycerol polyricinoleate or PGPR, is currently being used in chocolate bar manufacture as a less expensive substitute to cocoa butter.

More information:

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