Biochemical properties of ricin in immature castor seed.

The biochemical properties of ricin at different stages of seed i.e. from immature to mature seed were studied.

Amino acids of ricin and its polypeptides.

Ricin and its corresponding polypeptides (A & B chain) were purified from castor seed. The molecular weight of ricin subunits were 29,000 and 28,000 daltons. The amino acids in ricin determined were Asp45 The22 Ser40 Glu53 Cys4 Gly96 His5 Ile21 Leu33 Lys20 Met4 Phe13 Pro37 Tyr11 Ala45 Val23 Arg20 indicating that ricin contains approximately 516 amino acid residues.

Identification and characterization of phenolic compounds in castor seed.

Phenolic compounds, polyphenols, and flavonoids occur ubiquitously in plant kingdom, because they are important in plants for normal growth development and defense against infection and injury. Currently, there are no reports available on the phenolic compounds obtained from the residues of the oil-extracting process from defatted castor seed powder. Our studies, for the first time, in methanol-ether extract showed five low-molecular weight phenolic compounds namely p-coumaric acid, ferulic acid, o-coumaric acids, syringic, and cinnamic acids, which were in the soluble ether fractions.