The inspiration for poisoning cases in novels actually comes from it

As a botanical foodie, one question has always troubled me - today's children are increasingly afraid of coming into contact with wild plants, let alone daring to try the fruits of black nightshade or the leaves of wood sorrel, because they fear they are poisonous. The question is, when we were children, we would search the wild fields for all edible fruits, with no restrictions or rules. Looking back, it was truly not easy to make it to adulthood safely.

But this phenomenon should not be accidental. In human evolution, there are innate basic guidelines for selecting food, for example, likecastor beanfruits like these, we would never dare to mess with - not only do they havesoft spines on the fruit husk, and the seeds with a brown base are covered in dark brown patterns, this is not the appearance a tasty food should have.

Scientific illustration of castor bean. Image: Franz Eugen K?hler / wikimedia

Undoubtedly, the experience of companions, education from parents, and warnings from various sources combined to become our initial life-saving skills. But urban children with severe nature-deficit disorder have no way of recognizing these dangerous plants. It is just like the much-criticized situation of "not being allowed to date for the first 22 years of life, then suddenly having to marry and have children within a short time" - the problem is exactly the same.

Cases of actual castor bean poisoning are not many, but recently there has been some dangerous misinformation claiming that castor bean seeds can help with weight loss and that castor bean seeds can fight cancer. Could it be that a new castor bean species has appeared?

Castor bean is the only species under the genus Ricinus in the spurge family. Image: wikimedia

The lone ranger breaks out of Africa

There are not many cases of castor bean seed poisoning, and one very important reason is that they look very distinctive. Castor bean can be considered one of the easiest plants to identify, because it is a monotypic genus plant - the entire genus Ricinus in the spurge family has only this one species,palmate rough green leaves, fruits covered in soft spines, seeds covered in patterns, becoming the unique identity features of castor bean.

Castor bean fruit (left) and seeds (right). Image: Robodoc &H. Zell / wikimedia

The ancestral home of castor bean is Kenya and Somalia in Africa.The first time I went to Kenya, I saw large amounts of castor bean along the roadside, and I had the illusion that Chinese people had planted them here for profit. Actually, that is the ancestral home of castor bean.

Castor bean in China came from India. It is said that as early as 1400 years ago, China had records of castor bean. The Kangxi Dictionary mentions castor bean as follows: "According to Yupian (compiled by Gu Yewang of the Liang Dynasty), there is the name castor bean."

Castor bean leaves. Image: Maksim / wikimedia

For castor bean to break out of Africa and go global, it must have some tricks up its sleeve. This plant can be said to betreasure from top to bottom- castor bean leaves can be used to raise eri silkworms; the stem bark fibers of castor bean can be used to make paper and weave ropes; castor bean seeds are rich in protein and are excellent livestock feed; and castor bean oil has extremely wide industrial uses. But what truly made castor bean famous far and wide is its toxicity.

The red ones at the top of the stem are female flowers, and the yellow ones at lower positions are male flowers. Image: Pethan / wikimedia

A novelist's source of material

In September 1978 in London, the weather had already turned cold. In the cold, rainy days, crowds of people quietly waited for buses. A passenger suddenly felt a stabbing pain in his calf.

Being pricked by an umbrella tip in a bustling crowd is a common occurrence. However, no one would have thought that this was a long-planned assassination. The person who was struck was named Markov, and he showed symptoms of discomfort that very day, dying three days later. Throughout the entire process, doctors were helpless.This assassination incident became a source of inspiration for many novelists.

Later investigations found that this assassination used an assassination weapon developed by the KGB - an umbrella. Of course, this umbrella was not simple at all; it could fire a bullet - that was a hollow sphere the size of a ballpoint pen bead. After the hollow sphere entered the human body, thericininside would be released.

Speaking of umbrellas, weapons, and assassination, you might think of this. Image: Kingsman / imdb.com

Ricin that enters the human body has an incubation period of 2 to 3 hours, then at 7 to 8 hours symptoms of fever, vomiting, muscle pain, and weakness begin to appear, and death occurs after 36 to 72 hours.

Ricin is a rather terrifying toxin, with a lethal dose usually of only 2 milligrams,much lower than the lethal dose of cobra venom. This protein inactivates cells by inhibiting the activity of ribosomes, and ultimately causes human death.

At the same time, this protein'sproperties are quite stable, and under normal alkaline and acidic conditions it will not change its properties and potency, truly making it the perfect choice for assassination.

Even more fatal is that, up to now, peoplestill have no effective antidote for ricin poisoning, and can only reduce the effects of poisoning through treatments such as inducing vomiting and alleviating symptoms. Even if the person can be saved, the poisoned person will suffer for life due to permanent organ damage.

However, in reports from many places, castor bean also appears as medicine and animal feed. Is castor bean poisonous or not?

Poison transforms into a life-saving drug

In addition to the highly toxic ricin,castor bean seeds also contain a host of toxic substances such as ricinine and lectins。Fortunately, the content of these toxic substances in castor bean seeds is not high. Adults usually show poisoning symptoms only after eating 8 or more seeds; if seeds are accidentally eaten in excess (2 to 7 seeds for children, about 20 seeds for adults), it will lead to death by poisoning.

Castor bean contains a large amount of protein, accounting for 33% to 35% of the weight of castor bean seeds,making it a very excellent feed source. As long as the toxins are removed, it is a good protein feed.

In addition to protein, castor bean also contains a lot of oil, especiallyricinoleic acid, which stands out among all plant oils.This non-drying oil can be turned into drying and semi-drying oils through simple processing(drying oil is a type of oil that easily oxidizes and dries in air to form an elastic, flexible solid film). Castor oil has always had wide industrial uses, and castor bean can be found in various coatings and internal combustion engine lubricants.

Castor oil. Image: biomed.md

For friends who love beauty,castor oil capsulesare not unfamiliar. This so-called miracle drug for detoxifying and beautifying is actuallyproducing a so-called "detox" effect through the stimulation of the intestines by ricinoleic acid, which is actually diarrhea. This abnormal diarrhea can bring short-term dehydration and weight loss, and even the illusion of feeling light after detoxing, but it is really not a practice worth promoting. After all,once gastrointestinal function is damaged, restoring it is also a difficult matter。

Castor bean can also grow as tall as a small tree. Image: Nolege / wikimedia

Today, our understanding of castor bean is gradually changing. Even the highly toxic ricin also has unique uses. For example, by linking ricin with a rectal cancer monoclonal antibody to makeimmunotoxin, it is like adding a powerful explosive warhead to an antibody missile;under the guidance of the antibody, ricin will enter rectal cancer cells and destroy them, and in this process, normal cells will not be affected.

Poison transforms into a life-saving drug - even the ancestors of castor bean probably could not have imagined such a role reversal.

This article is the 157th article of Year 4 of Species Calendar, from Species Calendar author @Shi Jun.

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