← The ApothecaryFabaceaeseeds (only after traditional detoxification), leaves, rootFact-checked 23 October 2026

Toxic — not for home useNot for home use. A seed swallowed whole and intact usually passes with mild symptoms because the hard coat protects it, but a chewed, crushed or pierced seed releases abrin. Symptoms usually appear within 8 hours but can be delayed 1–3 days: vomiting, diarrhoea (often bloody), dehydration, low blood pressure, seizures, and liver, kidney and multi-organ failure. There is no antidote; treatment is supportive. In an Indian series of 112 hospital patients, 6 died (5.4%). Any ingestion needs urgent medical care.In an emergency, call your local emergency number or poison centre.

Rosary pea (Jequirity)

Abrus precatorius

Also calledGunja / Ghungchi (Sanskrit, Hindi) · Ain-ed-dik, 'cock's eye' (Arabic, Unani) · Crab's eye · Jequirity (Brazilian Portuguese)

A tropical climbing legume whose glossy red-and-black seeds are used in jewellery and rosaries and, in India, were used as goldsmiths' weights. The seeds contain abrin, a ricin-like toxin that is dangerous once a seed is chewed or crushed. It has a long history in Ayurveda after ritual detoxification, but no modern evidence of medical benefit, and it is not for home use in any form.

Full natural-history sheet →

What it is used for

Arthritis and joint pain
Limited
Seed extracts detoxified by the Ayurvedic shodhana process reduced paw swelling in rats about as much as diclofenac. There are no human trials, and the safety of detoxified seeds in people has not been established.⁵
Sore throat
Traditional
In the Konkan region of India singers chewed the leaves of the white-seeded form for hoarseness (recorded 1890). No clinical studies.³
Mouth ulcers and gum health
Traditional
Leaves were chewed with cubebs and sugar for mouth ulcers (aphthae) in western India. No clinical studies.³
Common cold
Traditional
Indian folk medicine uses the plant for colds and fevers, among many other complaints. Support comes only from lab studies.⁶
Eyes
Against
A Brazilian folk eye-wash of soaked seeds was taken up in Paris in 1882 to treat trachoma by provoking deliberate inflammation of the eyelids. Contemporary surgeons reported severe reactions, and the practice was abandoned. It should never be tried.^4,3

Safety

Pregnancy: Contraindicated
Breastfeeding: Contraindicated
Children: Children are the most common accidental victims, usually from chewing seeds from necklaces, bracelets or rosaries.

Do not use if

All internal use; not for home use
Pregnancy (the seeds are a traditional abortifacient and contraceptive)

In the healing traditions

Ayurveda
Gunja
Seeds used only after shodhana (detoxification by boiling), for nervous disorders and, externally, for skin diseases, ulcers and fistulas. The root was described as emetic.
Formulas in Sharngadhara, Chakradatta and the Bhavaprakasha (cited in Dymock, Pharmacographia Indica 1890)
Unani
Ain-ed-dik ('cock's eye')
Seeds described as hot and dry, tonic and aphrodisiac.
Persian and Arabic writers cited in Dymock, Pharmacographia Indica (1890)
Andean / Amazonian
Jequirity
Brazilian folk remedy: powdered seeds soaked in cold water as an eye-wash for granular eyelids (trachoma) and pannus.
Reported by de Wecker, Paris 1882; Hotz 1884
Western herbalism
Indian liquorice
The root was proposed as a substitute for liquorice by Hans Sloane around 1700.
Cited in Dymock, Pharmacographia Indica (1890)

Active compounds

abrin: ribosome-inactivating lectin in the seed, related to ricin
abrine (N-methyltryptophan): seed alkaloid; used as a marker of exposure

History

The seeds were used in India as a weight for gold, and Varahamihira's Brihat Samhita compares red pearls to gunja seeds. In autumn 1882 the Paris ophthalmologist de Wecker learned of the Brazilian eye remedy and introduced jequirity as a treatment for trachoma; the violent inflammation it caused soon discredited it.

Sources

Reference, not prescription. Nothing here is medical advice. Herbs can interact with medicines and be dangerous in pregnancy; tell your doctor or pharmacist about anything you take.