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The inspiration of the poisoning case in the novel actually comes from it.

Published: 2024-11-22 Author: mysheen

Last Updated: 2024/11/22, As a botanical foodie, there is a problem that has been bothering me-now children are more and more afraid of exposure to wild plants, let alone risk trying the fruits of Solanum nigrum and the leaves of sorrel for fear of poison. Here's the problem, it's me.

As a botanical foodie, there is a problem that has been bothering me-now children are more and more afraid of exposure to wild plants, let alone risk trying the fruits of Solanum nigrum and the leaves of sorrel for fear of poison. The problem is that in our childhood, we would look for all the fruits we could eat in the wild, and there were no restrictions and rules. In retrospect, it is not easy to grow into adulthood safely.

However, this phenomenon should not be accidental. In the course of human evolution, we were born with basic principles for choosing food. For example, it is impossible for us to provoke fruits like castor-not only have soft thorns on the peel, but the brown seeds are covered with dark brown markings. This is not what a delicious food should look like.

The scientific illustration of castor. Picture: Franz Eugen K?hler / wikimedia

There is no doubt that the experience of our partners, the education of parents, and warnings from different channels have become our original life-saving skills. But for urban children with serious natural deficiency, it is absolutely impossible to recognize these dangerous plants. It is like the criticized question that "you are not allowed to fall in love for the first 22 years of your life, and then suddenly you have to get married and have children in a short period of time."

The real reason is that there are not many cases of castor poisoning, but recently there have been some dangerous misleading that castor seeds can lose weight and fight cancer. Is it possible that a new species of castor has emerged?

Castor is the only species belonging to Euphorbiaceae. Picture: wikimedia

The Lone Ranger rushed out of Africa

There are not many cases of poisoning by eating castor seeds, and a very important reason is that they look unique. Castor is one of the most recognizable plants, because it is a single genus, and this is the only species in the whole Euphorbiaceae. Its palmlike rough green leaves, fruit covered with soft thorns, and seeds covered with patterns have become the unique identity of castor.

Castor fruit (left) and seed (right). Photo: Robodoc & H. Zell / wikimedia

Castor comes from Kenya and Somalia in Africa. When I went to Kenya for the first time, I saw a lot of castor by the side of the road. I had the illusion that the Chinese had planted here to generate income. In fact, that is the hometown of castor.

China's castor comes from India. It is said that as early as 1400 years ago, China has records of castor. Kangxi's dictionary mentions castor as follows: "according to Yu Pian (written by King Gu Ye of Liang), there is the name of castor."

Castor leaves. Picture: Maksim / wikimedia

The reason why castor can rush out of Africa and into the world cannot be done without two brushes. It can be said that the whole body of this plant is full of treasures-the leaves of castor can raise silkworms, the stem bark fibers of castor can make paper and weave ropes, the seeds of castor are rich in, and protein is excellent livestock feed; and the oil of castor is widely used in industry. However, it is their toxicity that allows castor to claim to be far away.

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

The source of material for novelists

In London in September 1978, the weather has turned cool. on a cold, rainy day, crowded people are quietly waiting for the bus. A passenger suddenly felt a tingling in his calf.

It is common to be stabbed by the tip of an umbrella in a bustling crowd. However, no one would have thought that this was a long-planned assassination. The man who was stabbed, named Markov, developed symptoms of discomfort on the same day and died three days later. In the whole process, there was nothing the doctor could do about it. The assassination became a source of inspiration for many novelists.

Later investigations revealed that an umbrella, an assassination weapon developed by the KGB, was used in the assassination. Of course, this umbrella is not simple at all, but can shoot bullets-it is a hollow ball the size of a ballpoint pen ball, after the hollow ball into the human body, the ricin in it will be released.

When it comes to umbrellas, weapons, assassinations, you might think of this. Photo: ace Agent / imdb.com

Ricin enters the body with an incubation period of 2 to 3 hours, followed by fever, vomiting, muscle pain and weakness within 7 to 8 hours, and death after 36 to 72 hours.

Ricin is a rather frightening toxin that usually has a lethal dose of only 2 milligrams, much lower than the lethal dose of cobra venom. This protein inactivates cells by inhibiting the activity of ribosomes and eventually leads to human death.

At the same time, the nature of this protein is quite stable, in the usual alkaline, acidic conditions will not change their properties and efficacy, it is the best choice for assassination.

What is more fatal is that up to now, there is no effective detoxification method for ricin, and the effects of poisoning can only be mitigated by vomiting and relieving symptoms. Even if it can be rescued, the victim will suffer for life because of permanent organ damage.

However, castor has been reported in many places as a drug and animal feed. Castor to the bottom poison or non-toxic?

Poison turns into a life-saving drug.

In addition to the highly toxic ricin, ricinine, cell lectins and other poisons are also found in castor seeds. Fortunately, the content of these poisons in castor seeds is not high, and adults usually eat more than 8 seeds before they are poisoned; if they eat too many seeds (2-7 for children and about 20 for adults), they will lead to poisoning and death.

Castor contains a lot of protein, accounting for 33%-35% of the weight of castor seeds, which is a very good source of feed. As long as the toxins are eliminated, it is a good protein feed.

In addition to protein, castor also contains a lot of oils, especially ricinoleic acid, which is unique in all vegetable oils. This non-dry oil can be turned into dry and semi-dry oil after simple treatment (dry oil is an oil that is easily oxidized and dried in air to form a flexible, flexible solid film). Castor oil has been widely used in industry, and castor oil can be found in all kinds of coatings and internal combustion engine lubricants.

Castor oil. Picture: biomed.md

For friends who love beauty, castor oil capsules are no stranger. This so-called detoxification and beauty medicine, in fact, is through ricinoleic acid to stimulate the intestinal tract, resulting in the so-called "detoxification" effect, in fact, diarrhea. This abnormal diarrhea can lead to short-term dehydration and weight loss, or even the illusion of being light after detoxification, but it is not a practice worth advocating. After all, it is also difficult to recover the damaged gastrointestinal function.

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

Today, our understanding of castor is gradually changing, even the highly toxic ricin also has a unique role. For example, connecting ricin to a rectal cancer monoclonal antibody to make an immunotoxin is like adding a powerful explosive warhead to an antibody missile; guided by the antibody, ricin enters the rectal cancer cell and destroys it. in the process, normal cells are not affected.

Poison turns into a life-saving drug, and it is estimated that the ancestors of Castor could not have imagined such a change of roles.

This is the 157th article in the fourth year of the species calendar, from @ Shi Jun, author of the species calendar.

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Vegetative Shi Jun

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