Castor oil

Castor oil is a vegetable oil obtained from the castor bean (or preferably castor seed as the castor plant (Ricinus communis) is not a member of the bean family).
Castor oil is extremely versatile and unique in its composition, maintaining its fluidity at both extremely high and low temperatures. Castor oil consists of 90 % unsaturated C:18 ricinoleic fatty acid. It is also a major source of sebacic acid.
Castor oil and its derivatives have applications in the manufacturing of soaps, lubricants, hydraulic and brake fluids, paints, dyes, coatings, inks, cold resistant plastics, waxes and polishes, nylon, pharmaceuticals and perfumes.
The poison ricin is made from the byproducts in the manufacture of castor oil.
About 1 % of global castor oil production goes into medical or health store products. It is used to ease constipation and as an emetic to induce vomiting. Consumption of large amounts of castor oil (below lethal doses, such as one bottle) can induce labor in near-term pregnant women. It is notorious for its strong taste, which was for many years a standard gag in comic strips, animated cartoons, and The Little Rascals / Our Gang short films.
Castor oil as a tool of political terrorIn Fascist Italy under the regime of Benito Mussolini, castor oil was one of the tools of the blackshirts. Political dissidents were force-fed large quantities of castor oil by Fascist paramilitary groups. This technique was said to have been originated by Gabriele D'Annunzio. Victims of this treatment would experience severe diarrhea and dehydration, often resulting in death.
Sometimes when the blackshirts wished to make sure that the victim would die rather than simply be badly disabled, they would mix gasoline with the castor oil.
It is said that Mussolini's power was backed by "the bludgeon and castor oil."
Bean originally meant the seed of the broad bean, but was later broadened to include members of the genus Phaseolus such as the common bean or haricot and the runner bean and the related genus Vigna. The term is now applied in a general way to many other related plants such as soybeans, peas, lentils, vetches and lupins.
Some raw beans, for example kidney beans, contain harmful toxins which need to be removed, usually by various methods of soaking and cooking. The soaking water from kidney beans should be discarded before boiling, and some authorities recommend changing the water during cooking as well. Cooking beans in a crockpot, because of the lower temperatures used, does not destroy toxins even though the beans do not smell or taste 'bad'. Beans have been known to produce prodigious quantities of intestinal gas in some people; resulting in pronouced flatulence.
Dry beansBean can be used as a near synonym of pulse, i.e. an edible legume, though the term "pulses" is usually reserved for those leguminous crops which are harvested for their dry grain. Pulses then exclude those crops mainly used for oil extraction (like soybean and peanut) or those used exclusively for sowing purposes ( clover and alfalfa). Leguminous crops harvested green for food like snap beans, green peas etc. are classified as vegetable crops.
In English usage beans sometimes also refer to seeds or other organs of non leguminosae, for example coffee beans, castor beans and cocoa beans (which resemble bean seeds), and vanilla beans (which resemble the pods).
Cultural aspectsThe following traditional uses of beans refer to the broad bean.
In ancient Greece and Rome, beans were used in voting (a white bean meant yes and a black bean meant no) and as a food for the dead, such as during the annual Lemuria festival.In some folk legends, such as in Estonia and the common Jack and the Beanstalk story, magical beans grow tall enough to bring the hero to the clouds. The Grimm Brothers collected a story in which a bean splits its sides laughing at the failure of others.Dreaming of a bean is sometimes said to be a sign of impending conflict, though others said they caused bad dreams.Pliny claimed that beans act as a laxative (A possible reference to the Castor Bean).European folklore also claims that planting beans on Good Friday or during the night-time is good luck." Beans Beans the Magical Fruit..." is a children's song about beans' capacity for causing flatulence