Castor Oil Plant - Part 1, History

Castor Oil Plant or Ricinus communis or the castor bean of Euphorbiaceae family is one of the most ancient, non-edible, medicinal and industrial oilseed crop of India, known as 'Eranda' in Sanskrit which name has passed into several other Indian languages?

Castor Oil Plant or Ricinus communis or the castor bean of Euphorbiaceae family, a botanical plant native to India bears several ancient Sanskrit names such as 'Eranda'. It is written in much of the ancient Indian medicinal text Susruta Ayurveda, which was compiled arounnd 2000 BCE. The plant has been distributed through all the tropical and many of the temparate countries of the world. In the regions most favourable to its growth as in India, it attains a height of 40 feet and mostyl commercially grown as herb. Castor Oil, a product of the castor seeds is mentioned within these Sanskrit wrtings for its use as stimulant laxative to treat constipation. In Indian vernacular languages it is known as: Oudla in Kannada; Arandi in Hindi; Chittamankku in Malayalam; Amanakku in Tamil; and Amuda in Telugu. 

The Egyptians used castor oil for burning their lamps and for unguents more than 4,000 years ago. Seeds of Ricinus has been found in Tombs of Egyptians. Greek Historian called it 'Kiki'. Theophrastus, Greek Philospher and Nicander, the Greek Poet gave the plant its name as 'Kpotwv or Kiki and described the plant as of the staure of small fig tree with leaves like a plane and seeds in prickly pericarp; the name Kpotwv was given on account of its resemblance to an insect known by that name. Kikajon is the name given to it in the English Bible. Cleopatra is reputed to have used castor seed oil 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.

Castor is also indigenous to the southeastern Mediterranean Basin, Eastern Africa, Ethiopia in particualr, and in these countries it grows as a small tree, 10 to 15 feet high. In European countries it grows as an annual herbal of noble foliage of 4 to 5 feet height. There is a fairly discernible but correct figure dated 505 AD preserved in the Imperial Library at Vienna. It is widely grown elsewhere as an ornamental plant. The castor oil plant was cultivated by Alberrt Magnus, a German Dominican friar, Bishop of Ratisbon in the mddile of the 13th century. In the 16th century, it was well known as a garden plant in Europe and the oil is mentioned as Oleum cicinum or Oleum de Cherua and used externally in skin diseases. The Castor seed and its oil have also been used in China for centuries (dating back to 1000 years) , mainly prescribed in local medicine for internal use or use in dressings.

The oil-rich castor seeds though the most imporatnt non-edible oil seed crop, contains the poison ricin, one of the most toxic substances known, and consumption of chewed seeds can be lethal. It is of special concern because of its potential use as a biological weapon.

Though the seeds are considered poisonous , they are the source of a large number of economically important products and are probably the most anceint products. Castor Seed and its various plant parts like stems, roots , leaves and flowers have wdie ranging uses in industry as well as at home.  

Note: To be continued as Castor Oil Plant - Part 2, Botanical facts and its uses.

- Narasipur Char