Authors
Sheetal Gahlyan
Abstract
Abrus precatorius is the most prominent medicinal plant worldwide. Despite its medicinal value, it is highly poisonous to humans as well as animals. About every part of the plant is used for several medical purposes and almost all the parts are toxic. Seeds are the most poisonous part of plants and contain the active constituent i.e. Abrin which is highly responsible for the toxicity in individuals. It is widely used for the occultist purpose as well. Time for an antidote, proper treatment, and manner of detoxification are the key points to cure the Abrus precatorius poisoning. Manner of treatment is based on the symptoms noticed after poisoning. This review successfully discusses the morphological, toxicological, treatment, analysis (including extraction and detection) and therapeutic uses as well as Abrus precatorius for forensic considerations. Keywords: Abrin, Seeds, Toxicity, Anti-abrin, Analysis, Biological Matrices, Therapeutic Potential.
Introduction
In Abrus precatorius, Abrus means graceful or beautiful, which is stated as per the seeds’ appearance of the plant. About every part of the plant is used for several medical purposes and almost all the parts are toxic. Omnipresent nature is one of the factors responsible for cattle poisoning mainly (Livestock) because of their open gazing habit (Kafle et al., 2018). The toxicity of seeds of A. precatorius is coupled with its utilization as a homicidal agent in addition to fish poison. Boiled seeds and intact beans are harmless, are swallowed (Prabha et al., 2015).
Abrus precatorius is one of the popular plants for medical purposes and belongs to the Fabaceae family (Leguminosae) i.e. Pea family. A sweet-tasting agent known as Glycyrrhizin is present in roots, leaves, and stems. Leaves are alternate and pinnately compound having 10-15 leaflets (shown in Figure 1). Flowers are pea-like and purple, yellow, or pink. The seed pots are in clusters 2.5 to 5cm in length, green to brown, and are split open exposing seeds. Based on origin and habitat, seeds are of different colors (Figure 2). They are tasteless and odorless, egg-shaped, bright scarlet red having large black spots majorly (Figure 3). Seeds are 8mmx6mm in dimensions and 105mg in weight and contain Abrin and Toxalbumin (Thermolabile toxalbumin) as active principles or toxic agent (Prabha, et al. 2015).
Additionally, seeds contain poisonous abrussic acid, urease, fat splitting enzymes, proteins, and haemagglutinin (Vij, 2011). Once because of uniformity in weight and size, they were also known as Rati and used for weighing silver and gold. Where 8 Rati= 1 Masha; 12 Masha= 1 Tola (11.6 grams) (Prabha, et al. 2015).
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| APA Style | Gahlyan, S. (2020). Forensic Aspects of Abrus precatorius for Medicine and Toxicological Contemplations. Academic Journal of Forensic Sciences, 3(2), 10-16. |
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