Purgative, oil extracted from the bean (Castor oil), being used as a laxative

One of its earliest mentions appears in the Ebers papyrus, a document of 700 prescriptions penned by an Egyptian priest dating to 1500BC

Medicinal uses Uses supported by clinical data None. Uses described in pharmacopoeias and well established documents Short-term treatment (3–5 days) for acute constipation when other dietary methods or bulk-forming laxatives have not provided adequate relief. As a cathartic for use in bowel evacuation prior to surgery (21). Used externally for topical dermatoses and dermatitis (5, 6). Uses described in traditional medicine Used as an emmenagogue, to induce labour, for the treatment of burns, bronchitis, diarrhoea, itching, earache, haemorrhoids, pneumonia, rheumatism and sprains (6, 22, 23).

Contraindications Oleum Ricini should not be used as a laxative during pregnancy or while breastfeeding (5, 13), or in children under the age of 12 years. Due to stimulation of bile flow, the oil should not be used by patients with biliary tract obstructions or other biliary disorders. Oleum Ricini is contraindicated in patients with hypersensitivity or allergy to the oil, appendicitis, chronic inflammatory bowel disorders, undiagnosed abdominal pain or severe dehydration associated with the loss of salt and water. It should not be used in cases of intestinal blockage and ileus.

Palma Christi

Food additive: flavouring, also for protective coating of tablets; Fuels: potential as petrol substitute/ alcohol; Invertebrate food: silk worms; Materials: beads, lipids.

This was known as Palma Christi, or Figuera di l’inferno (the fig from hell) according to Lobel. The coat of the seed of this plant from Southern Europe and North Africa is the source of the poison ricin, best known for the umbrella murder in 1978 when the Bulgarian secret service was alleged to have killed Georgi Markov with a pellet containing ricin (although none was found), using an air gun disguised as an umbrella, on Waterloo Bridge in London. The seeds also produce castor oil (which does not contain ricin), formerly used as a laxative. The leaves are used worldwide as a herbal remedy for stomach complaints. Woodville describes at length how castor oil is extracted, but neither he nor Lindley mention that the seeds are poisonous. Lyte says that the oil, then known as Oleum cicinum, was good for rubbing on the skin, and the leaves for swollen eyes and erysipelas, but that the seed makes one vomit ‘with much payne and greefe’. Two seeds ingested are said to be fatal, but vomiting as a reaction to poisons protects the unwary.

Used currently as an industrial lubricant and in the manufacture of polymers.

Important constituent of high pressure lubricants

Seed is high in ricinolieic acid Two toxins – ricinine and ricin, found in the seed coat

Ricinus communis L. Euphorbiaceae Castor oil plant. Palma Christi. Distribution: Mediterranean, E Africa, India. The seeds themselves are pretty, brown, bean-like usually with gold filigree markings on them, and the interior of the seed is the source of castor oil. The outer coat of the seed is the source of the poison ricin, famous (infamous) for the umbrella murder of Georgi Markov on Waterloo Bridge in 1978. The KGB are alleged to have killed Georgi Markov, a dissident Bulgarian journalist, with a pellet containing 0.28mgm of ricin fired into his leg using a specially adapted air gun in an umbrella. While his symptoms were those of ricin poisoning, no ricin was ever found in the pellet that was extracted from his leg. Two seeds, chewed and ingested are said to be fatal, but most people vomit and get rid of the toxin. Ducks are resistant to ricin, and need to ingest more than 80 to be fatal! In Peru the leaves are used as a tea for stomach ache, although they contain small amounts of ricin. It is called Palma Christi in early herbals because of the five pointed leaves, which schematically represent a hand. It is a monotypic genus in the spurge family.

"Humans/Pets: Toxic if eaten" - HTA guidelines