JIST

Abstract

Castor is cultivated for its unique oil, which has widespread industrial applications. But the utilization of the press-cake is limited due to the presence of ricin, the most toxic constituent in castor. Its presence hampers the use of the cake as animal feed despite its high nutritive value.

In this study, ricin was extracted by precipitation, ultrafiltration and then analysed after purification. The ricin content that was estimated varied from 1.04 to 1.65%. For detoxification, a combination of physical and chemical treatments was used namely: alkalization, soaking, heating and autoclaving. 

Ricin content in the detoxified castor cake was subsequently analysed as per ricin estimation procedure, and it was found that the ricin content was only in trace quantity.