Ricin research is now focused on the following aspects. Owing to its ease of preparation, wide availability, and potential use as a bioterrorism agent, ricin is listed as a prohibited substance under schedule 1A of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC, Liang et al 2021). A number of recent reviews cover different aspects of ricin, its preparation from castor seeds and its potential use as a biological weapon (Griffiths 2011 Olsnes and Kozlov 2001 Poelchen and Wirkner 2003 Spivak and Hendrickson 2005 Polito et al 2019). The toxicity of ricin is estimated to be approximately 380-fold higher than that of the nerve agent VX (Liang et al 2021). was awarded the dubious title “poisonous plant of the year 2018” in Germany (Franke et al 2019). Owing to its easy availability and high toxicity, Ricinus communis L. Ricin, the toxic principle of castor seeds ( Ricinus communis L.) was first described in 1888 by Stillmark at the University of Dorpat (now Tartu, Estonia), an important centre of pharmacology in the late nineteenth century (Boehm 1874). Castor seeds have been known as drug and toxicant since ancient times and were found in Egyptian tombs dating 4000 BC (Poelchen and Wirkner 2003).
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