Abrus precatorius
Abrus precatorius, known commonly as
Jequirity,
Crab's Eye,
Rosary Pea,
John Crow Bead,
Precatory bean,
Indian Licorice,
Akar Saga,
Giddee Giddee or
Jumbie Bead in
Trinidad & Tobago,
[1] is a slender, perennial climber that twines around trees, shrubs, and hedges. It is a
legume with long, pinnate-leafleted
leaves. It is also known as
Gunja in
Sanskrit and some Indian languages and
Ratti in Hindi. The plant is best known for its
seeds, which are used as
beads and in percussion instruments, and which are toxic due to the presence of
abrin. The plant is native to
Indonesia and grows in tropical and subtropical areas of the world where it has been introduced. It has a tendency to become
weedy and invasive where it has been introduced.
Uses
White varietyThe seeds of Abrus precatorius are much valued in native jewelry for their bright coloration. Most beans are black and red, suggesting a ladybug, and other colors are available. Jewelry-making with jequirity seeds is dangerous, and there have been cases of death by a finger-prick while boring the seeds for beadwork. However, it has long been a symbol of love in China, and its name in Chinese is xiang si dou (Chinese: 相思豆), or "mutual love bean". In Trinidad in the West Indies the brightly coloured seeds are strung into bracelets and worn around the wrist or ankle to ward off jumbies or evil spirits and "mal-yeux" - the evil eye. The Tamils use Abrus seeds of different colors. The red variety with black eye is the most common, but there are black, white and green varieties as well.
The Seeds of Abrus precatorius very similar in weight In Older times Indians used to measure using these seeds and the measure was called as Ratti this was used to generally measure gold and 1 Tola (11.6 Grams) = 12 Masha; 1 Masha = 8 Ratti
A tea is made from the leaves and used to treat fevers, coughs and colds.[2] In Siddha medicine the white variety is used to prepare oil that is used as an aphrodisiac.[3]