Negative result: Chemical forensic attribution of ricin preparations using fatty acids analysed with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

Abstract

Here, samples of castor oil were extracted from Australian Ricinus communis seeds. The extracted oils were esterified and the derivatives characterised by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS). The fatty acid composition of the oils was profiled, enabling the trace fatty acid components of castor oil to be reported for the first time. The resulting data were also subjected to statistical analysis to test the applicability for provenance and geographic attribution purposes, but no discrimination was found.

Keywords

• Ricin
• castor oil
• Fatty acid methyl esters
• Chemical attribution
• Multivariate analysis