Jatropha Seeds

Description

Much like other members of the family Euphorbiaceae, members of the genus Jatropha contain several toxic compounds. The seeds of Jatropha curcas contain the highly poisonous toxalbumin curcin, a lectin dimer. They also contain carcinogenic phorbol. Despite this, the seeds are occasionally eaten after roasting, which reduces some of the toxicity. Its sap is a skin irritant, and ingesting as few as three untreated seeds can be fatal to humans. In 2005 Western  banned Jatropha gossypiifolia as invasive and highly toxic to people and animals. Even though it was used as medicine in certain geographic regions, it was found to have no antimicrobial activity