Home > Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine > Castor Oil

Description

Castor oil is a natural plant oil obtained from the seed of the castor plant. The castor seed, or bean, is the source of numerous economically important products as one of the world's most important industrial oils, and was one of the earliest commercial products. Castor beans have been found in ancient Egyptian tombs dating back to 4000 B.C. According to the Ebers Papyrus, an Egyptian medical text from 1500 B.C., Egyptian doctors used castor oil to protect the eyes from irritation. The oil from the bean was used thousands of years ago in facial oils and in wick lamps for lighting. Castor oil has been used medicinally in the United States since the days of the pioneers. Traveling medicine men in the late 1800s peddled castor oil, often mixed with as much as 40% alcohol, as a heroic cure for everything from constipation to