Product Description

The use of castor seed oil in India has been documented since ***0 BC for use in lamps and in local medicine as a laxative, purgative, and cathartic in Unani, Ayurvedic and other ethnomedical systems. Castor seed and its oil have also been used in China for centuries, mainly prescribed in local medicine for internal use or use in dressings. The oil has undecylenic acid, a powerful chemical for dermal fungus. The oil is known to have been used as an instrument of coercion by the Fascist militia (Camicie Nere) under the regime of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. Dissidents and regime opponents were forced to ingest the oil in large amounts, triggering severe diarrhoea and dehydration, which could ultimately cause death. This punishment method was originally thought of by Gabriele D'Annunzio, the Italian poet and Fascist supporter, during the First World War. It was used in rituals of sacrifice to please the gods in early civilizations. However, if consumed raw or untreated it leads to death in more than *7.3% of cases. In Brazil, castor plants are abundant. The "fruits" are used by children as slingshot balls. Mamonas, as the fruits are called, serve perfectly as projectiles for slingshots since they have the right weight, size and hardness. Mamona oil is now being used to produce biodiesel in poor rural areas of the country.