Shivamogga: As many as nine students from Sharada Vidya Mandir in Kuppegudde village of Soraba taluk took ill after consuming jatropha seeds here.
The students of fifth standard were left out of school to play when a few of them picked the seeds and ate them. Immediately, the students fell sick. They were all taken to government hospital for treatment and were later shifted to Mcgann hospital.
The seeds of Jatropha contain the highly poisonous toxalbumin curcin, a lectindimer. They also contain carcinogenic phorbol. Despite this, the seeds are occasionally eaten after roasting, which reduces some of the toxicity. Its sap is a skin irritant, and ingesting as few as three untreated seeds can be fatal to humans.
