Re: why is the complex protein ricin water soluble yet insoluble in castor oil

The answer is: Why shouldn’t it be so?

Seed oil, such as castor oil, are mixture of lipids designed for energy storage. Ricin is a chemical defence against the plant being eaten by animals. The two functions are completely separate, so if ricin was soluble in castor oil, it would be coincidence rather than design.

Ricin works in the cell cytoplasm, which is aqueous, so ricin must be soluble in water too.

All you need to know: htt p://www.ansci.cornell.edu/plants/toxicagents/ricin/ricin.html

There are two relevant MadSci posts, too:

How it works: http: //www.madsci.org/posts/archives/mar97/856891268.Bc.r.html

Composition: http: //www.madsci.org/posts/archives/oct98/906531471.Ch.r.html