The Castor Oil Plant - Uses and Abuses Quiz

Answer: Ricinus communis

Ricinus communis is the correct name for the castor oil or castor bean plant. It is a member of the spurge (Euphorbia) family, but the only example of the genus Ricinus. Fatsia japonica is similar in appearance (and it is called the false castor oil plant), but it is totally unrelated.
The name Ricinus is a Latin word for tick; the seed looks very much like certain types of tick in shape and markings.

The common name, castor, is possibly because it replaced castoreum, an extract from beaver glands, as a perfume base (although an alternative source suggests early explorers confused it with the oil of another shrub, Vitex agnus-castus).

Answer: As a punishment administered to children

Castor oil was used as a punishment for recalcitrant prisoners, servants and even naughty children in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It is a strong laxative that was used (by force feeding great quantities) to incapacitate and humiliate political dissenters in Mussolini's Italy. Due to its dehydrating effect, combined with beatings, some victims died.

Castor oil is used as a perfume base.

Castor oil is commonly used as a food additive, mould inhibitor, and for improving the flow of cocoa butter in making chocolate bars.

It is also used in the cosmetics industry, to strengthen and improve hair gloss and as a skin moisturiser. Extracts of castor oil are added to many drugs, including eye drops.

Answer: Ricin, found in the mash after the oil is extracted from the seeds

Ricin is contained at low levels throughout the whole plant, but the most potent concentration of ricin is left behind in the mash after castor oil is extracted from the seeds. It can then be distilled into a powder, a pellet or a spray. While it is dangerous when breathed in or eaten, it is far more lethal when injected into the bloodstream.

The equivalent of a few grains of salt can kill an adult within 36 to 72 hours. There is, as yet, no known antidote, but early enough intensive care may pull the patient through.

Answer: Yes, there was a successful assassination in London in 1978

The US military experimented with using ricin as a lethal agent in warfare, but dropped the idea. (It would be in breach of International War Crimes legislation to use it.) Since then it has been suspected that some rogue nations and terrorist groups may have used it, though there is no conclusive proof of this.

On 7th September 1978, Georgi Markov, a Bulgarian author and journalist, then living in London, died after having a tiny pellet injected into his leg via an umbrella. Markov died in hospital on 11th September of ricin poisoning, and the hollow, perforated pellet was discovered during his autopsy. There had been two previous unsuccessful attempts on his life by the Bulgarian secret police, due to Markov's outspoken criticism of the Communist regime in his homeland of Bulgaria.

Ricin was also allegedly used in the failed assassination attempt against another Bulgarian dissident, Vladimir Kostov, in the Paris Metro.

Incidentally, the poison used in Tokyo (on 20th March, 1995) was sarin gas, not ricin. Twelve people died at the time; of the 50 other victims, some died later.

The Brighton bombing, which killed five people and maimed many others, was an attempt on Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's life by the IRA. No poisons were involved.

Answer: India

As at 2013, India produced most of the world production of castor oil with 1,744,000 tons of the golden liquid. The total production in that year was less than 1,865,000 tons. The People's Republic of China was second with 60,000 tons.

Answer: At vintage aircraft meetings, model aircraft flying and car races

Every time I get close to a really old aircraft (which is sadly a rarity now), the smell of hot castor oil used in rotary and early straight engines brings a wave of nostalgia. Castor oil was the preferred lubricant in the Allied Gnome engines, and resulted in much more reliable performance than was then available to the German aircraft.

In my model aircraft days, we used castor oil as the lubricant in our Glow Plug engines. As the junior partner I was usually given the job of starting and launching the control-line aircraft, which I was always slow to do because I enjoyed the heady smell so much. The lubricant company Castrol took its name from castor oil. Due to its ability to cling to hot moving parts, castor oil is an excellent oil for high-performance racing engines. It forms a glaze on moving parts which improves the seal for more efficient combustion.

Answer: By heating during the oil extraction process

The castor seed contains ricin, which is a toxic lectin. By heating the mash during the oil extraction process, this lectin is denatured and deactivated. There are, however, some health risks for workers in the industry. The plant surface has some powerful allergenic compounds, which can cause permanent nerve damage in susceptible handlers.

Some varieties of castor oil plant are being developed with lower ricin and allergenic compounds. For example, there is a variety called "Brigham", developed for Texan conditions, and BRS Nordestina, developed for hand harvest in Brazil.

Answer: Through injection into the bloodstream or inhalation

In fact all these methods are hazardous,and may be fatal, but by far the most deadly method is to inject the poison directly into the bloodstream. It is estimated in this form to be 12,000 times more deadly than rattlesnake poison.
Inhaling a fine spray of the extract is almost as deadly as injecting into the bloodstream, and it is speculated by some experts that 'bombs' releasing these inhalants may have been responsible for the deaths of townspeople by rogue states in the early 21st century.

Answer: They damage the lungs and break down red blood cells

There is more than one toxin in Ricinus, and these work in different ways. Put simply, if ricin is inhaled it will shut down lung function, and cause haemorrhage in the pulmonary and the digestive tract.

Ricin is a cytotoxin comprised of two sub-units, the A-chain (RTA) and the B-chain (RTB). They become deadly when the bond between these chains is broken. Once inside a cell, RTA becomes a deadly enzyme causing loss of purine from ribosomes. Protein synthesis shuts down and the cell dies.
There is a powerful hemagglutinin in castor beans called ricinus communis agglutinin (RCA), which, if injected into the bloodstream, will cause the red blood cells to clump together (agglutinate) and burst.

Answer: As a component of targeted chemotherapy in cancer patients

As ricin is a powerful cytotoxin (cell killer), research into its use as a tumour destroyer began in several sites (certainly in England, France and the USA) in the 1990s. In 1998, announcements in England and the USA showed that considerable progress was being made in this field. Initially progress was slowed by 'vascular leak syndrome', caused by ricin breaking down cells, particularly in the lungs. Researchers in the USA were able to engineer ricin to eliminate the harmful elements, while still enabling it to attack tumours.

The ricin protein is attached to monoclonal antibodies, which are developed in vitro and have been armed with protein receptor sites that recognise the target cells of a tumour. The ricin-antibody mix can be sent to the tumour site, where ricin can enter the tumour cells and do their deadly business, destroying the cancer.

While synthetics are leading the way, there are still many industrial uses for castor oil. It is also being used in the production of bio-fuels.