Castor Oil Plant

The Castor Oil Plant (Ricinus communis), while native to East Africa, is found in tropical and subtropical areas around the world, including the United States. It grows quickly into a shrub and can be invasive or weed-like. The seeds are sometimes used to make jewelry.
The castor bean is the seed of the castor oil plant. It contains a highly toxic compound called ricin, which is released when the seed is crushed or chewed. Ricin prevents cells from making proteins, which are essential to life. Although castor oil is made from the same seeds, it does not contain ricin. To make castor oil, the seeds are cooked, dried, and pressed. The oil is then further refined. The cooking and refining processes remove the ricin.

Ricin comes from the Latin word ricinus, which means “tick” and signifies the seed’s resemblance to a type of tick found in Europe. Ricin is one of the most toxic substances known to man. It has the ability to act on the cellular level—the smallest building blocks of an organism. Once inside cells, ricin disrupts the ability of the cells to make proteins. Proteins are required for the structure and actions of all cells. Without the ability to make proteins, our cells cannot function, and this can lead to death. It takes very little ricin to cause severe poisoning and potential death.

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