Ricinine Explained

Ricinine is a toxic alkaloid found in the castor plant.^[1] It can serve as a biomarker of ricin poisoning.^{[2] [3]} It was first isolated from the castor seeds by Tuson in 1864.^{[4] [5]}

Ricinine has insecticidal effects.^[6]

It sublimes between 170 and 180 °C at 20 mmHg. It does not form salts, and is precipitated in iodine or mercuric chloride solutions, but not in Mayer's reagent.

It can be hydrolyzed to methanol and ricininic acid by alkali.

See also

• Ricin

Notes and References

1. Peng . Jing . Cai . Shuang . Wang . Lin . Zhao . Nan . Zhang . Ting-jian . Chen . Zai-xing . Meng . Fan-hao . Dzeja . Petras . A Metabonomic Analysis of Serum from Rats Treated with Ricinine Using Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography Coupled with Mass Spectrometry . PLOS ONE . 11 March 2014 . 9 . 3 . e90416 . 10.1371/journal.pone.0090416 . 24618672 . 3949718. 2014PLoSO...990416P . free .
2. Hamelin . Elizabeth I. . Johnson . Rudolph C. . Osterloh . John D. . Howard . David J. . Thomas . Jerry D. . Evaluation of Ricinine, a Ricin Biomarker, from a Non-Lethal Castor Bean Ingestion . Journal of Analytical Toxicology . November 2012 . 36 . 9 . 660–662 . 10.1093/jat/bks077 . 23014889 . 4561852.
3. Pittman . C. T. . Guido . J. M. . Hamelin . E. I. . Blake . T. A. . Johnson . R. C. . Analysis of a Ricin Biomarker, Ricinine, in 989 Individual Human Urine Samples . Journal of Analytical Toxicology . 6 March 2013 . 37 . 4 . 237–240 . 10.1093/jat/bkt010 . 23471955 . 4547525.
4. Book: Henry, Thomas Anderson . 1949 . 4th . The Plant Alkaloids . The Blakiston Company . 5 . Ricinine .
5. Rao . N. V. Subra . Feb 12, 1945 . A Note on the Chemical Composition of Castor Leaves . Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Sciences . A . 21 . 123–125 . 10.1007/BF03051280 . 94199266 . Aug 7, 2021.
6. Wachira . Sabina . Omar . Sabar . Jacob . Julia . Wahome . Martin . Alborn . Hans T . Spring . David R . Masiga . Daniel K . Torto . Baldwyn . Toxicity of six plant extracts and two pyridone alkaloids from Ricinus communis against the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae . Parasites & Vectors . 2014 . 7 . 1 . 312 . 10.1186/1756-3305-7-312 . 24996560 . 4098926 . free .