The chief vegetable purgatives are aloes, colocynth, gamboge, jalap, scammony, seeds of castor-oil plant, croton-oil, elaterium, the hellebores, and colchicum. All these have, either alone or combined, proved fatal. The active principle in aloes is aloin; of jalap, jalapin; of white hellebore, veratria; and of colchicum, colchicin. Morrison's pills contain aloes and colocynth; aloes is also the chief ingredient in Holloway's pills

1. Dr Mohd Kaleem Khan
Assistant Professor
Department Of Forensic Medicine
JNMCH AMU Aligarh

2. Abrus Precatorius Indian Liquorice/ Ratti
• All parts of plants are poisonous esp. seeds.
• Seeds are size of small pea, red in colour, egg shape,
having black spot on one end or may be white or yellow
• active principle:
– Abrin ( toxic protein that disables ribosomes, inhibits protein
synthesis, antigenic properties, hemolytic properties);
– Abrine- an amino acid; haemagglutinin,
– Abralin- a glycoside

3. • Abrus precatorius,
Known commonly as
– Jequirity, crab's eye,rosary pea, precatory pea or bean, john
crow bead, indian licorice, akar saga,
– Gidee gideeor jumbie bead in trinidad & tobago,
– Is a slender, perennial climber that twines around trees,
shrubs, and hedges.
– It is a legume with long, pinnate-leafleted leaves.

4. SEEDS
Red and black white

5. PLANT
Plant Necklace

6. MOA
• Inhibit RNA polymerase
• Binds to endoplasmic reticulum of gut mucosal cells
l/t diarrhoea.
• F.D. : 1 seed
• F.P. : 3- 5 days

7. USES
– The seeds of abrus precatorius are much valued in native jewelry for their
bright color.
– There have been cases of death by a finger-prick while boring the seeds for
beadwork.
– These seeds to weigh gold using a measure called a ratti, where 8 ratti = 1
masha; 12 masha = 1 tola (11.6 grams.
– In siddha medicine, the white variety is used to prepare oil that is claimed to be
an aphrodisiac .
– Ayurveda because it is said to promote/stimulate hair growth.

8. Sign and Symptom
• On ingestion:
• Abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, bloody diarrhoea,
• Vertigo, tinnitus, and giddiness,
• Cold clammy skin, irregular pulse, laboured breathing,
convulsions,
• Haemolysis, oliguria and death d/t cardiac failure.
• Injected:
• Resembles viperine snake bite.
• Inflammation, oedema, oozing of fluid.
• Painful swelling and necrosis of muscles and regional lymph node
may occur.

9. TREATMENT
• Gastric lavage
• Suis should be excised
• Anti abrin
• A mixture of dilute hydrochloric acid and pepsin
• Symptomatic treatment

10. Medicolegal Aspect
– Accidental in children
– Suis made from opium, dhatura, onion and spirit
and used for animal poisoning
– Seeds act as abortificient
– Malingering: conjunctivitis
– Arrow poison

11. Ricinus communis (Castor, Arandi)
• Entire plant is poisonous esp. seeds except oil.
• Seeds are smooth, flat, oval, mottled, dark brown
marking, bright and polished and occur in large and
small form.
Active principle:
• Toxalbumin RICIN, a water soluble glycoprotein

12. Green Red

13. Small seed Large seed

14. MOA:
• Antigenic- causes agglutination, hemolysis and cell
destruction
• Blocks protein synthesis through inhibition of RNA
polymerase
• Ricin has special binding protein that gains access to
the endoplasmic reticulum of GIT causing diarrhoea

15. Sign and Symptom
• Dust of seeds causes:
• Watering of eyes, conjunctivitis
• Rhinitis, acute nasal inflammation
• Headache, pharyngitis, bronchitis
• Dermatitis
• Gastric upset
• Ingestion
• GIT: burning pain in throat, colicky abdominal pain, cramping,
nausea, thirst, vomiting and diarrhea.
• CNS: vertigo, drowsiness, delirium, convulsions coma
• Uremia, jaundice, feeble pulse, shock and dehydration

16. • F.D. : 10- 20 seeds
• F.P. : 3-5 days
• Treatment:
• Gastric lavage
• Emetics and demulscents
• symptomatic

17. PM Appearance:
• Mucosa congested, softened, inflamed, erosions, fragment of
seeds may be present
• Dilatation of heart, pleural Hg, edema of Liver, kidney spleen
and lung
MLI:
• Accidental in children
• Rarely homicidal( The Umbrella Murder Case)
• Bioterrorism

19. Croton tiglium (jamal gota)
• Croton tiglium, known as Purging Croton, is a plant species
in the Euphorbiaceae family.
• C. tiglium is also called Jamaal Gota in Hindi and Urdu.
• Seeds are dark brown, oval, similar to croton but not
mottled and lustureless.
• All parts of plant are poisonous but seeds contain
maximum conc. of Active principle.

20. Plant Seed

21. Uses
• C. tiglium is used in traditional Chinese medicine,
•
• C. tiglium is known as Japaala/or "Jayapala" in Sinhala and
used in Sinhala traditional medical system of Sri Lanka.
• Seeds have a powerful purge.
• Is a valuable remedy in diarrhoea, summer complaint, and
Skin affections, in Homeopathic remedies

23. Toxic effect
• Active principle:
– Crotin (toxalbumin)
– Crotoniside ( glycoside
Ingestion
– Burning pain in throat and stomach, salivation, colicky abdominal
pain, cramping, nausea, thirst, vomiting and bloody diarrhoea.
– Prostration circulatory and respiratory collapse
– Applied to skin
– Burning redness and vesication

24. • F.D. : 4 crushed seeds or 3 drops of oil
• F.P. : 6-3 days
• Treatment:
• GL
• Emetics and demulscents
• Morphine and atropine
• symptomatic

25. PM Appearance:
• Mucosa congested, softened, inflamed, erosions,
fragment of seeds may be present
• Dilatation of heart, pleural Hg, oedema of Liver,
kidney spleen and lung
• MLI:
• Accidental
• Rarely homicidal and suicidal
• Roots and oil as abortificient
• Arrow poison

29. Calotropis gigantea/ calotropis
procera
madar or akdo
• Dried root freed from the outer cortical is
called Madar
• Active principle: uscharin, calotoxin,
calactin, calotropin (cardiac glycoside) and
gigantin (contained in serum)

30. Uses:
• Flowers: digestive , carminative, tonic
• Leaves: purgatives, emetic
• Milky juice : vesicant, depilatory and t/t of
chronic skin condition
• Tincture of bark or root: dysentry
• Dried bark: expectorant, emetic and
purgative

31. Sign and symptoms
• External – irritant vasication, conjunctivitis
• Internal – gastrointestinal and cerebral
poison

32. Medico- legal importance
• Madar juice is commonly used as an
abortifacient,
• May be used for homicide , suicide or
infanticide
• Animal poison
• Artificial bruise
• Arrow poison

36. Plumbago rosea/ plumbago
zeylinca
lal chitra/ chitra
• Roots are most poisonous
• Active principle: plumbagin (glycoside) –
strong irritant and in small doses it
stimulates contractions of heart, intestine
and uterus and in large doses causes
respiratory failure.

37. Medico-legal importance
• Abortion
• Homicide
• paste of stem or leaves : for artificial
bruise
• Powdered leaves and roots: t/t of leprosy,
scabies and influenza

39. Semecarpus anacardium
marking nut/ bhilawan
• Fruit is black, heart shape, having rough
projection at base.
• Fleshy pericarp contains thick, oily, acrid
juice which turns black when mixed with
lime and exposed to air
• Active principle: bhilawanol, semicarpol

40. Sign and symptoms
• On skin: irritation and painful blister.
• lesion resembles bruise which may
ulcerate and slough
• F.D.: 5- 10 gm
• F.P. : 12- 24 hr

41. Medico-legal importance
• Accidental
• Artificial bruise
• Criminal abortion
• Malingering : conjunctivitis
• vitriolage

42. Difference
Artificial bruise
• Cause : chemical
• Situation: accessible
• Appearance : blister
formation
• Colour changes: absent
• Ecchymosis: absent
• Content: acrid serum
• Itching present
• Analysis chemical
present
True bruise
• Trauma
• Anywhere
• No blister
• Present
• Present
• Extravasated blood
• Absent
• Absent
• Negative

44. Ergot
• Dried fungus Claviceps purpurea which
grows on stale grains particularly rye ,
wheat, barley and maize
• Active principle: alkaloids- ergotoxin,
ergotamine and ergometrine
• MoA: vaso-constricting agent and
stimulates smooth ms contraction of
arterioles , intestine and uterus

45. Acute poisoning
• Nausea , vomiting and diarrhoea
• Respiratory distress
• Paraesthesias, ms cramps
• Dizziness, dilated pupil, bleeding from
nose, unconciousess
• F.D. : 1-2 gm

46. Chronic poisoning
• Convulsive type: twitching, tingling,
numbness and painful contraction of
voluntary muscles, headache, drowsiness,
giddiness, formification and convulsions
• Gangrenous type: resembles raynaud’s
disease (St. Anthony’s fire), numbness
tingling anaesthesia, may be dry gangrene
in fingers toes, ears, nose, hands

47. Treatment
• Symptomatic
• emesis
• Nitroprusside or nitroglycerine
• Prazocine, captopril, nifedipine and
cyproheptidine for limb ischaemia
• phenobarbital

48. MLI:
• Accidental poisoning
• Abortifacient