WHO monographs on selected medicinal plants - travolekar.ru

<strong>WHO</strong> <strong>monographs</strong> on selected medicinal plants
Description
The castor-oil plant is either cultivated or is found growing wild in most
tropical and warm temperate countries. It varies from an annual, monoecious
herb in temperate regions to a tree attaining a height of 15 m in some
tropical areas. There are hundreds of forms of the plant which vary in size,
colour of stem and leaves, leaf markings, branching, size, colour and markings
of seeds. Shoots and panicles glaucous. Leaves are large, alternate,
petiolate, peltate, palmate, 5–12 lobed, the lobes serrate or dentate, green or
reddish. The inflorescence is a raceme of staminate and pistillate flowers,
often 30–60 cm high, the pistillate flowers occurring above the staminate
ones on the floral axis. The fruit is a 3-celled capsule generally covered with
soft spines and dehiscing into 3 cocci, each containing an ovoid albuminous
seed. Seeds oblong, smooth, mottled and poisonous (8, 12).
Plant material of interest: fixed oil
General appearance
A colourless or pale yellow, clear, viscous oil, miscible with dehydrated
ethanol or ether. It is only partly soluble in hexane (a distinction from
most other fixed oils). When cooled to 0 °C, it becomes more viscous, and
turbidity is gradually formed (1–5).
Organoleptic properties
Odour: slight, characteristic; taste: initially bland, with a slightly acrid
aftertaste (3, 4).
General identity tests
Physicochemical properties (2–4), chemical tests (3, 4), and gas chromatography
analysis of fatty acids (1).
Purity tests
Microbiological
Tests for specific microorganisms and microbial contamination limits are
as described in the <strong>WHO</strong> guidelines for assessing quality of herbal medicines
with reference to contaminants and residues (18).
Foreign organic matter
To be established according to national requirements.
Total ash
Not applicable.
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