According to Hakeem Hashmi eminent physician of unani medicine, even though castor plant or its oil is not a food, it is one of the most commonly used oils worldwide, medications. It is a safe purgative & drug for reducing irritation of the skin and alleviating swelling & pain. Caster seeds were mentioned as an important item of commerce in ancient Egypt. In India too caster has been used since ancient times. In the Vedas dating back to 2000 BC castor is mentioned as indigenous plant and people used castor oil for lamps. The oil was and is still, used extensively in traditional medicines as a laxative and also to soften dry & coarse household skin. For centuries, Chinese have used the oil for medicinal purposes. The castor plant appears to have originated in eastern Africa, especially around the Ethiopia. It now grows throughout the warm-temperate & tropical regions & flourishes under variety of climatic conditions. Hakeem Hashmi points out thattor can be grown almost anywhere and this is one of castor's greatest virtues.

Castor is a harmless purgative it is also used very effectively in the treatment of rheumatic & skin disorders.

Castor seeds poultice can be applied on gouty & rheumatic swellings with beneficial results. A decoction of the roots of castor plant with potash carbonate is very helpful in treating lumbago & rheumatism.

a poultice of castor leaves is useful as an external application to boils & swellings. Castor leaves coated with coconut oil, then heated & applied over guinea-worm sores to extract the worms.

castor oil if used regularly as hair oil, helps to cure dandruff & helps the growth of hair.

administration of castor oil as a purgative is very simple. About 30 to 60 gms of pure odourless castor oil is given orally with 250 to 350 gms of Luke worm milk. It acts just after an hour. Those who find it unpalatable can take it with ginger or gripe water. This reduces its unpleasantness, while destroying mucous & promoting healthy appetite. According to Hakeem Hashmi castor oil is a simple, harmless purgative and can be safely used round the year without any rigid consideration & limitation of weather & the physiological nature of the patient.

castor oil massaged over the breasts of lactating mothers (after childbirth), increasing the flow of milk, by stimulating mammary glands. Castor leaves can also be used to foment the breast, for the same patient.

Hakeem Hashmi points out that, unani system of medicine considers castor as an effective medium of birth control. According to unani treatises, if a woman chews one castor seed daily for a period of seven days after the menstruation, she becomes sterile. This has been interpreted by that castor seed is an herb for birth control and if the woman swallows one-castor seeds after the menstrual cycle, she will not conceive during that month. When pregnancy is desired, the practical can be given up and conception follows after a year.

castor oil massaged over the body, before bath, keeps the skin healthy & imparts sound sleep. Such oil over may be taken once in a week. Applying castor oil over hand & feet before going to sleep keeps them soft. Applying similarly over eyebrows & eye lashes keep them well groomed. A word of caution, large doses of castor oil as purgative during early months of pregnancy may caused abortion.