Indian-licorice
StarAbrus precatorius
Cautions & contraindications
- Bleeding disorders
- Heart conditions
- Toxic — professional use only
Western Herbalism Properties
Gallery
Botanical Description
Abrus precatorius, the rosary pea or jequirity bean, is a slender perennial woody climber of the Fabaceae native to tropical Asia and now pantropical, with stems twining 3-6 m or more over shrubs and trees and arising from a deep, often tuberous rootstock. The pinnate leaves are 5-13 cm long with 8-17 pairs of small, oblong leaflets 6-25 mm long, glabrous above and sparsely appressed-hairy beneath, with a leaflet-less rachis tip. The pea-flowers are small, 8-12 mm long, pale pink to mauve or purplish-white, clustered in short, dense axillary or terminal racemes 3-8 cm long; the calyx is campanulate with short, broad teeth. The fruit is a flat, oblong, beaked legume 2-5 cm long and about 1.5 cm wide, becoming brown and dehiscent at maturity to display 3-8 striking, hard, ovoid seeds 6-9 mm long, glossy scarlet with a sharply contrasting black hilar spot at one end. These seeds contain the highly toxic ribosome-inactivating lectin abrin and are extremely poisonous if chewed and swallowed. The species grows in disturbed lowland forest margins, hedgerows, secondary scrub and waste places throughout the tropics.
Active Constituents
Abrin (abrin-a, abrin-b, abrin-c, abrin-d)
Type 2 ribosome-inactivating protein (toxalbumin; heterodimeric A-B lectin)Concentration: Seed only; abrin-a is the principal and most toxic isoform. Estimated human lethal dose of purified abrin is 0.1-1 microgram/kg body weight.
Abrin is one of the most toxic plant proteins known. Its B chain binds galactose residues on the cell surface and carries the A chain into the cytosol, where the A chain depurinates a single adenine in the sarcin-ricin loop of 28S rRNA, irreversibly arresting protein synthesis and triggering apoptosis by the mitochondrial pathway. A single seed that is chewed or crushed has caused fatal poisoning; intact swallowed seeds may pass through because the hard testa limits release. There is no antidote. Clinical poisoning presents with protracted vomiting, haemorrhagic diarrhoea, hypovolaemic shock, hepatic and renal injury, and in some cases seizures, cerebral haemorrhage or demyelinating encephalitis. Abrin is a legally scheduled agent in several jurisdictions: it is named on the HHS Select Agents and Toxins list under 42 CFR 73.3 in the United States, where possession above 1000 mg requires registration with the Federal Select Agent Program, and it is on the Australia Group List of Human and Animal Pathogens and Toxins for Export Control, which member states implement in national export-control law. Ricin, its closest analogue, is additionally a Chemical Weapons Convention Schedule 1 toxin; abrin is not on the CWC schedules. The whole seed is not itself a scheduled article, but preparing, concentrating or extracting the toxin from it is regulated and in many jurisdictions criminal.
Abrus precatorius agglutinin (agglutinin I, APA)
Type 2 ribosome-inactivating lectinConcentration: Seed; co-occurs with abrin and is generally the more abundant of the two seed lectins
A close structural homologue of abrin that is roughly three orders of magnitude less cytotoxic, because a substituted active-site residue and a tighter A-B interface impair translocation of its A chain to the cytosol. It is strongly haemagglutinating and immunogenic. Its presence means that a seed preparation assayed only for lectin or agglutination activity says nothing reliable about abrin content.
Abrine (N-methyl-L-tryptophan, L-abrine)
Indole alkaloid (N-methylated amino acid)Concentration: Seed, as a free amino acid; also reported from leaf
Abrine is a small non-protein amino acid and is a completely different substance from abrin: it is not a ribosome-inactivating protein, is not the cause of abrin poisoning, and is orders of magnitude less toxic. Its clinical value is as a forensic exposure biomarker, quantified in urine and blood by LC-MS/MS to confirm ingestion of Abrus seed. Secondary sources, popular herb databases and even some plant-toxicology summaries routinely conflate the two names and describe abrine as the lethal toxalbumin; that conflation is an error and should be treated as a red flag on any source that repeats it.
Abrusosides A, B, C, D and E
Cycloartane-type triterpene glycosidesConcentration: Leaf; the intensely sweet principles of the leaf, which is drunk as a tea in parts of China and India
Sweet-tasting cycloartane glycosides isolated from the leaves, responsible for the liquorice-like sweetness of the foliage. They are the reason the leaf is treated as a separate drug from the seed, and they carry no abrin; leaf sweetness is therefore no indication that seed material is safe.
Glycyrrhizin
Oleanane triterpene saponinConcentration: Root; the root is used in India as a Glycyrrhiza substitute and as a commercial source of glycyrrhizin
The same sweet saponin that characterises liquorice root. Because Abrus root is traded as an Indian liquorice substitute, root material carries the pharmacology of glycyrrhizin, including mineralocorticoid-like sodium retention and potassium loss on prolonged or high-dose use.
⚠ Drug Interactions
Abrus cantoniensis (Ji Gu Cao, Abri Herba)
This is a species-substitution hazard rather than a pharmacokinetic interaction, and it is the single most important safety point for this record. Abri Herba, the Chinese Pharmacopoeia drug Ji Gu Cao, is the dried whole herb of Abrus cantoniensis Hance, a hepatoprotective medicinal used for cholecystitis and hepatitis. Abrus precatorius grows in the same southern Chinese range, shares vernacular names in the Abrus genus, and its bright red and black seeds are widely handled as beads. Chinese poisoning reports include patients who ate Abrus precatorius seeds or pods believing them to be Ji Gu Cao material, and Abrus precatorius poisoning is documented as being under-recognised by Chinese emergency physicians because it is thinly described in the Chinese literature. The consequence of the substitution is not a difference of degree: Abri Herba pods have a mouse oral LD50 of about 10 g/kg, while abrin in Abrus precatorius seed is lethal at microgram-per-kilogram doses.
Clinical note: Never accept Ji Gu Cao material containing red-and-black seeds or seed pods. Ji Gu Cao is a whole-herb drug from Abrus cantoniensis; if seeds resembling rosary peas are present, quarantine the lot and have it botanically authenticated before any use. Patients who present after taking a Ji Gu Cao preparation with haemorrhagic gastroenteritis should be worked up as possible abrin poisoning.
Warfarin and other anticoagulants or antiplatelet agents
Abrin poisoning characteristically produces haemorrhagic enterocolitis: in a retrospective series of 112 hospitalised patients, diarrhoea occurred in 66 percent and frank blood in the stool in 33 percent, and case reports describe haematochezia, haematuria and intracranial haemorrhage. Mucosal denudation from a ribosome-inactivating protein plus pharmacological impairment of haemostasis is an additive bleeding risk, and the coagulopathy of abrin poisoning is not reversible by stopping the plant.
Clinical note: Any exposure to Abrus precatorius seed in an anticoagulated patient is a medical emergency; refer immediately and do not observe at home. There is no scenario in which this species should be co-prescribed with an anticoagulant.
Nephrotoxic and hepatotoxic drugs (aminoglycosides, NSAIDs, paracetamol, methotrexate)
Documented abrin poisoning causes acute kidney injury, elevated transaminases and liver impairment, and severe fluid loss from vomiting and diarrhoea that produces prerenal insult on top of the direct cytotoxicity. Serum enzyme elevation after jequirity bean ingestion has been described since the 1970s. Concurrent nephrotoxic or hepatotoxic drug exposure compounds injury at the same target organs, and hypovolaemia raises the effective exposure of the kidney to those drugs.
Clinical note: In a suspected or confirmed exposure, withhold nephrotoxic and hepatotoxic medication where clinically possible, restore volume aggressively, and monitor renal and hepatic function serially. Case reports describe recovery with supportive care including continuous renal replacement therapy and haemoperfusion; no antidote exists.
Digoxin, thiazide and loop diuretics, corticosteroids (root material only)
This interaction attaches to the root, not the seed. Abrus precatorius root contains glycyrrhizin and is traded in India as a Glycyrrhiza substitute and as a raw material for glycyrrhizin extraction, so root preparations inherit the liquorice interaction profile: inhibition of 11-beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 producing pseudoaldosteronism, with potassium loss that potentiates digitalis toxicity and is compounded by potassium-wasting diuretics and by corticosteroids.
Clinical note: Establish which plant part a product contains. If it is root sold as an Indian liquorice substitute, apply liquorice precautions: avoid with digoxin, potassium-wasting diuretics and corticosteroids, avoid in hypertension, heart failure and hypokalaemia, and monitor potassium and blood pressure.
Any orally administered medication taken during exposure
Forceful repeated emesis and profuse, often bloody diarrhoea are the dominant early features of abrin poisoning and were the presenting signs in the confirmed paediatric case verified by L-abrine biomarker quantitation. Oral medication with a narrow therapeutic index, and oral contraception, cannot be assumed to have been absorbed during such an episode.
Clinical note: Treat all oral doses taken around the time of the exposure as not delivered; switch critical medication to a parenteral route and counsel on contraceptive failure.
Evidence Tier
Moderate evidence · 5 studiesRecorded studies by study design, strongest design at the top. This is a study-design tier only, not a GRADE rating: it does not weigh risk of bias, consistency or precision.
Systematic review / meta-analysis
0
Randomized controlled trial
0
Other clinical trial
0
Observational / case report
5
4 verified · 1 unverified
Show 5 studies
- Abrus precatorius poisoning: A retrospective study of 112 patients
- A Case of Abrin Toxin Poisoning, Confirmed via Quantitation of l-Abrine (N-Methyl-l-Tryptophan) Biomarker
- Acute abrin poisoning treated with continuous renal replacement therapy and hemoperfusion successfully
- Acute demyelinating encephalitis after jequirity pea ingestion (Abrus precatorius)
- An Arrow Poison (Abrus Precatorius) Causing Fatal Poisoning in a Child
In vitro / animal
0
Other / unclassified
0
Verified: design read from PubMed for a DOI that resolves to the cited paper Unverified: taken from the study's recorded description
Clinical Studies
Abrus precatorius poisoning: A retrospective study of 112 patients
Retrospective review of 112 patients admitted to medicine wards over seven years in a tertiary Indian hospital after Abrus precatorius exposure. Most were female (78 percent) and aged 13 to 30 years (81 percent). Diarrhoea was the commonest feature (66 percent) and blood in the stool occurred in 33 percent. Six patients died, a case fatality of 5.35 percent. This is the largest published human series and is the basis for describing Abrus precatorius as a lethal, not merely irritant, plant exposure.
A Case of Abrin Toxin Poisoning, Confirmed via Quantitation of l-Abrine (N-Methyl-l-Tryptophan) Biomarker
A 22-month-old, 11.5 kg girl ingested approximately 20 rosary peas sold as a peace bracelet, illustrating jewellery as a real exposure route. She had forceful repeated emesis and tachycardia, was managed supportively with intravenous saline and ondansetron, and was discharged well at 24 hours. The case is the first human abrin poisoning confirmed by quantifying L-abrine, and it is the clearest published demonstration that abrine is the measurable marker of exposure while abrin is the toxin responsible for the illness.
Acute abrin poisoning treated with continuous renal replacement therapy and hemoperfusion successfully
A previously healthy 16-year-old girl in China ingested 10 crushed Abrus precatorius seeds and developed altered mental status, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhoea, haematochezia and haematuria. She was treated with gastric lavage, proton pump inhibition, hepatic support, haemostatics, volume and electrolyte resuscitation, continuous renal replacement therapy and haemoperfusion, and recovered fully at three-month follow-up. The authors note that Abrus precatorius poisoning is extremely rare and poorly recognised in China, which is the practical reason the confusion with Ji Gu Cao matters clinically.
Acute demyelinating encephalitis after jequirity pea ingestion (Abrus precatorius)
Case report of acute demyelinating encephalitis following jequirity pea ingestion, documenting that neurological sequelae of Abrus precatorius exposure can be delayed and can persist after the gastrointestinal phase has resolved. Relevant because apparent clinical recovery from the acute enteritis does not close the observation window.
An Arrow Poison (Abrus Precatorius) Causing Fatal Poisoning in a Child
Report of a fatal paediatric Abrus precatorius poisoning, framed around the plant's use as an arrow and cattle poison. Together with the 5.35 percent mortality of the 112-patient series it establishes that death from this species is documented rather than theoretical.
Historical Texts
Bencao Shiyi (Supplement to the Materia Medica), Chen Cangqi
Tang dynasty, 739 CEBencao Gangmu (Compendium of Materia Medica), Li Shizhen
Ming dynasty, 1596Sushruta Samhita
Classical Ayurvedic compilation, c. 6th century BCE to 5th century CEBhavaprakasha Nighantu
16th century CEReferences
- Qian H, Wang L, Li Y, Wang B, Li C, Fang L, Tang L. The traditional uses, phytochemistry and pharmacology of Abrus precatorius L.: A comprehensive review . Journal of Ethnopharmacology (2022) [DOI]
- Lin X, Li H, Wang T, Xiao X, Huang B. The Traditional Uses, Nutrition, Phytochemistry, and Pharmacology of the Medicinal Abrus Species: A Comprehensive Review . Chemistry and Biodiversity (2025) [DOI]
- Liu CJ, Li HX, Chen ZH, Li JJ, Shi W, Zhang FX. A review of the ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry, pharmacology, pharmacokinetics and toxicology of Abri Herba (Ji-Gu-Cao) . Phytochemistry (2024) [DOI]
- Bagaria A, Surendranath K, Ramagopal UA, Ramakumar S, Karande AA. Structure-Function Analysis and Insights into the Reduced Toxicity of Abrus precatorius Agglutinin I in Relation to Abrin . Journal of Biological Chemistry (2006) [DOI]
- Narayanan S, Surolia A, Karande AA. Ribosome-inactivating protein and apoptosis: abrin causes cell death via mitochondrial pathway in Jurkat cells . Biochemical Journal (2004) [DOI]
- Johnson RC, Zhou Y, Jain R, Lemire SW, Fox S, Sabourin P, Barr JR. Quantification of L-Abrine in Human and Rat Urine: A Biomarker for the Toxin Abrin . Journal of Analytical Toxicology (2009) [DOI]
- Fernando C. Poisoning due to Abrus precatorius (jequirity bean) . Anaesthesia (2001) [DOI]
- Niyogi SK. Elevation of enzyme levels in serum due to Abrus precatorius (Jequirity bean) poisoning . Toxicon (1977) [DOI]
- Choi YH, Hussain RA, Pezzuto JM, Kinghorn AD, Morton JF. Abrusosides A-D, Four Novel Sweet-Tasting Triterpene Glycosides from the leaves of Abrus precatorius . Journal of Natural Products (1989) [DOI]
- Federal Select Agent Program, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. HHS and USDA Select Agents and Toxins List . US Department of Health and Human Services, 42 CFR 73.3 (2025)
This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace professional medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before using any herbal remedy, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, or taking medications.
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