Ricinus communis  Castor oil    Family: Euphorbiaceae     
PART USED: Castor Oil- Oil cold pressed from the seed   
TASTE: Acrid ODORLESS 
ACTIONS- It is soothing to the skin and eye and is an ingredient of some cosmetic and ophthalmic preparations.
1. Laxative and purgative.[1]
INDICATIONS
1. Constipation.[1]
2. Used to clear food or other poisoning and prior to intestinal X-ray examination.[1]
CONTRAINDICATIONS:
PREPARATIONS: Castor oil 5-20 ml.[1]
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ORIGIN: India
HABITAT: Cultivated or wild grown.
DESCRIPTION: Annual herb, similar to semi-shrub. Stem: hollow, cylindrical, covered on outside by frosty bloom. Leaves: alternate, large and thin, 7-9 palmate cleft deeply, lobes long-ovate or ovate-lanceolate, apexes acute, margins serrated. Main venation palmate, secondary venation pinnate. Flowers in summer-autumn, light yellow terminal flowers appear to form racemose inflorescences. Capsule globoid, with prickly projections. Seed- oval, from about 1-2 cm long and 0.5-1 cm broad, slightly compressed. They are greyish-brown and foten mottled with brown or black markings, with a yellowish caruncle at one end.
References
Inner Path can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. Always seek advice from a professional before using a plant medicinally.
Constituents.
Research.

It has been used to expel worms after treament but should not be used for this purpose since it facilitates absorption of some anthelmintics.[1]
For treatment of facial paralysis, grind castor beans (shells removed) to make into a cream. Apply externally to the affected side of the mandibular joint and angle of mouth (the layer of cream should be 3 mm thick) and covered with a bandage; change dressing once every day. Amound the 3 cases treated, all recovered within 3 days.[2]
A report on castor bean poisoning and treatment; The toxic substances in castor beans are destroyed by heat. Most cases of castor bean poisoning are due to consumption of fresh castor beans. A report indicates that 3 children who ate 2 to 7 fresh castor bean vomited continually, with abdominal pain; enlargement of the pupils, and poor reactions to light. All cases recovered after treatment by standard procedures of treating poisoning.[2]
References
[1] Encyclopedia of Common Natural Ingredients used in Food Drugs and Cosmetics, Leung, Albert, Y. Pub. John Wiley & Sons Inc. (1980) NY
[2] commons.wikimedia.org by Schnobby (Own work) CC-BY-SA-3.0

Essential oil of the leaves of Ricinus communis L.: In vitro cytotoxicity and antimicrobial properties
Zied Zarai, Ines Ben Chobba, Riadh Ben Mansour, Ahmed Békir, Néji Gharsallah and Adel Kadri
Abstract
Background
The aim of the present study was to appraise the antimicrobial activity of Ricinus communis L. essential oil against different pathogenic microorganisms and the cytotoxic activity against HeLa cell lines.
Methods
The agar disk diffusion method was used to study the antibacterial activity of Ricinus communis L. essential oil against 12 bacterial and 4 fungi strains. The disc diameters of zone of inhibition (DD), the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) and the concentration inhibiting 50% (IC50) were investigated to characterize the antimicrobial activities of this essential oil. The in vitro cytotoxicity of Ricinus communis L. essential oil was examined using a modified MTT assay; the viability and the IC50 were used to evaluate this test.
Results
The essential oil from the leaves of Ricinus communis L. was analyzed by GC–MS and bioassays were carried out. Five constituents of the oil were identified by GC–MS. The antimicrobial activity of the oil was investigated in order to evaluate its efficacy against twelve bacteria and four fungi species, using disc diffusion and minimum inhibitory concentration methods. The essential oil showed strong antimicrobial activity against all microorganisms tested with higher sensitivity for Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus and Enterobacter cloacae. The cytotoxic and apoptotic effects of the essential oil on HeLa cell lines were examined by MTT assay. The cytotoxicity of the oil was quite strong with IC50 values less than 2.63 mg/ml for both cell lines.
Conclusion
The present study showed the potential antimicrobial and anticarcinogenic properties of the essential oil of Ricinus communis L., indicating the possibilities of its potential use in the formula of natural remedies for the topical treatment of infections.
Lipids in Health and Disease201211:102   DOI: 10.1186/1476-511X-11-102© Zarai et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2012   Received: 3 July 2012Accepted: 24 July 2012Published: 13 August 2012 lipidworld.biomedcentral.com