| Summary: | International authorities classify the ricin toxin, present in castor seeds, as a potential agent for use in bioterrorism. Therefore, the detection, identification, and characterization of ricin are considered the first actions for its risk assessment during a suspected exposure, parallel to the development of therapeutic and medical countermeasures. In this study, we report the kinetic analysis of electro-oxidation of adenine released from hsDNA by the catalytic action of ricin by square wave voltammetry. The results suggest that ricin-mediated adenine release exhibited an unusual kinetic profile, with a progress curve controlled by the accumulation of the product and the values of the kinetic constants of 46.6 µM for <i>Km</i> and 2000 min<sup>−1</sup> for <i>kcat</i>, leading to a catalytic efficiency of 7.1 × 10<sup>5</sup> s<sup>−1</sup> M<sup>−1</sup>.
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