What Are Poppy Seed

Poppy seed is an oilseed obtained from the poppy plant (Papaver somniferum). The tiny, kidney-shaped seeds have been harvested from dried seed pods by various civilizations for thousands of years. It is still widely used in many countries, especially in Central Europe and South Asia, where it is legally grown, used in food products and sold in shops. The seeds are used whole or ground into meal as an ingredient in many foods – especially in pastry and bread – and they are pressed to yield poppyseed oil.

Seeds and dried poppy seed pods (in bowl) with stems attached (poppy straws)

Many ancient medical writings from many civilizations mention poppy seeds. In the Ebers Papyrus, which dates to around 1550 BC, for example, the poppy seed is mentioned as a sedative.[1]. A Bronze Age society that developed on the island of Crete, the Minoan civilization (c. 2700–1450 BC) grew poppies for their seeds and soothed wailing infants with a concoction of milk, opium, and honey. Another culture that is known to have cultivated poppies is the Sumerians.

The kidney-shaped, pitted-surfaced poppies are less than a millimeter long. A pound is made up of one to two million poppy seeds, and a gram is made up of roughly 3,300 seeds. The main flavoring ingredient is 2-pentylfuran.

The purpose of growing the seeds is to develop blooms. Because they are easy to reproduce and may be planted straight into the ground in the winter, annual and biennial poppies are grown from seed. One beautiful orange wildflower that blooms in the Western and Northwestern United States is the California poppy (Eschscholzia californica).

Dried Poppy seed

In 2018, world production of poppy seeds was 76,240 tonnes, led by Turkey with 35% of the world total, followed by the Czech Republic and Spain as other major producers (table).

The poppy seeds harvest can be a by-product of cultivation of Papaver somniferum for opium, poppy straw, or both opium and poppy straw. However, harvesting for poppy seeds of superior quality is in conflict with harvesting for opium as poppy seeds should be harvested when they are ripe, after the seed pod has dried. Traditionally, opium is harvested while the seed pods are green and the seeds have just begun to grow and their latex is abundant. Poppy straw can be a by-product of cultivation of poppy seeds. Compared to the seed pod and straw, the seeds contain very low levels of opiates. The seeds may be washed to obtain poppy tea but a large amount is needed, around 300–400 g depending on the levels of opiates.

Since poppy seeds are relatively expensive, they are sometimes mixed with the seeds of Amaranthus paniculatus, which closely resemble poppy seeds.

poppy seed, tiny dried seed of the opium poppy, used as food, food flavouring, and the source of poppy-seed oil. Poppy seeds have no narcotic properties, because the fluid contained in the bud that becomes opium is present only before the seeds are fully formed. The plant, Papaver somniferum, is an herbaceous annual native to Greece and the Orient. Poppy seed is an ancient spice; the seed capsules have been found in Switzerland in the remains of prehistoric lake dwellings.

Cheap Poppy seed For Sale

The opium poppy, or Papaver somniferum, is a native Turkish flowering plant that belongs to the Papaveraceae family. The milky latex in its unripe seed capsule is the source of heroin, opium, morphine, and codeine. Additionally, it is planted for its kidney-shaped, nonnarcotic, ripe seeds, which are grayish blue to dark blue and used as spice, oil, and birdseed (see poppy seed) in baked goods.

The opium poppy is an annual plant and can reach about 1–5 metres (3–16 feet) tall. It has lobed or toothed silver-green foliage and bears blue-purple or white flowers some 13 cm (5 inches) wide. Red-flowered and double and semidouble strains have been developed as garden ornamentals. The seeds are borne in a spherical capsule topped by a disk formed by the stigmas of the flower; the seeds escape from pores beneath the disk when the capsule is shaken by the wind.

Poppies have lobed or dissected leaves and milky sap. The buds are often nodding and are borne on solitary stalks. The flowers have four to six petals with numerous stamens surrounding the ovary. The two sepals usually drop off as the petals unfold. The ovary develops into a spherical capsule topped by a disk formed by the stigmas. The many small seeds escape from pores beneath the disk when the capsule is shaken by the wind.

Major Papaver species

opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) with (left) mature fruit and seed and (right) detail of flower.

Opium, from which morphine, heroin, codeine, and papaverine are derived, comes from the milky latex in the unripe seed capsule of the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum), which is native to Turkey. An annual plant, it bears 13-cm- (5-inch-) wide purple flowers on plants 1 to 1.5 metres (about 3 to 5 feet) tall, with lobed or toothed silver-green foliage. The opium poppy is also grown for its nonnarcotic ripe seeds, which are used for seasoning, for oil, and in baked goods (see poppy seed). White-, pink-, and red-flowered strains with double or semidouble blooms have been developed as garden ornamentals.