Poppy (Papaver somniferum L.)

Poppy is an ancient cultigen; it is mentioned in the Ilias, an epic ascribed to the legendary Greek poet Homeros. The Ilias is, together with the contemporary Odysseia, by far the oldest European poetry and was probably fixed from oral tradition in the 8.th century, but it tells of events that might have happened five hundred years ago. It gives a unique insight in the thought and life of the ending Bronze Age, for it describes or at least mentions much of everyday life.

The ancients valued poppy for the oil obtained from its seeds; yet the narcotic and analgetic power of opium was well known to Greek medicine. Opium as a drug is a comparatively young development in Europe.

Today, poppy oil is an unusual speciality and is produced only in small quantities; most common is a cold-pressed quality suited for salads (see sesame about vegetable oils in general). Poppy farmers in Western Europe are faced by numerous legal restrictions designed to prevent the production of opium. Yet, in Western European climate, poppy plants do not develop much alkaloids, and any opium produced there would be of comparably minor quality.

In Europe, poppy seeds are mostly used for confectionary, similar to the use of sesame and nigella in the Near East. Stuffings based on poppy are sometimes found in croissants and the Austrian desserts known as strudel. Most of these recipes originated in Bohemia (today's Czech Republic), whence they came to Austria in the times of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Another great example for this sweet and high-calorie cooking tradition are Germknödel, steamed yeast dumplings stuffed with a very concentrated kind of plum jam (Powidl) and served with powdered sugar, ground poppy seeds and molten butter.

Yet in Asia poppy is not unknown for cooking, either. Ground poppy seeds are a common thickening agent in the moghul cooking style of Northern India; a special creme-white variety was bred for light sauces. Poppy's nutty taste is loved by the Japanese and used for the subtly flavoured dishes typical for Japan. The Japanese spice mixture shichimi togarashi contains poppy seeds.

Used plant part
Ripe seeds. The drug opium is prepared from the unripe capsules.

Plant family
Papaveraceae (poppy family).

Sensoric quality
Nutty and pleasant.

Main constituents
Poppy seeds contain 40 to 50% of fatty oil, which is obtained by cold pressing in yields of only 12 to 18%. It is rich in unsaturated fatty acids (iodine index is 133 to 144): 60% linoleic acid, 30% oleic acid, 3% linolenic acid (triply unsaturated; essential for human nutrition) and less than 10% saturated fats. Among the volatile components of poppy seeds, aliphatic hydrocarbons and aldehydes have been reported. 2-Pentylfuran is a key aroma compound.

Opium is the dried latex from unripe seed capsules; each capsule yields about 20 to 50 mg. Besides wax, resin, proteins and sugars, it contains approximately 20% of alkaloids, of which morphine (morphin, typically, 12%) is the most important. Opium for smoking (chandu) is roasted over fire and fermented, which reduces the alkaloid content to about one quarter and leads to the development of a typical flavour.
Opium contains two family of alkaloids. Phenanthrene-type alkaloids include morphine (7 to 23%), codeine (max. 3%), thebaine (max. 3%, typically much lower) and the synthetic heroin. Benzylisochinoline-type alkaloids are more common in the plant kingdom; in opium, they are represented by narcotine (=noscapine, up to 12%), papaverine (max. 1.5%) and narceine (0.2%). Most of these have their special field of application in modern medicine. Official opium production is 2000 tons per year, mostly by India and Turkey.

The alkaloid content of poppy seeds is low (50 ppm) and cannot have any pharmaceutical effect. It is, however, high enough that morphine can be detected in the urine after heavy poppy seed consume, which might make for an unpleasant surprise in drug tests.

Origin
Poppy probably stems from West Asia, but it is cultivated in Europe since the neolithic era; it is probably one of the earliest plants cultivated by men in that region. Turkey is one of the main producers and exporters of Blue, White and Yellow Poppy Seeds.