Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Opium (or poppy tears, scientific name: Lachryma papaveris) is dried latex obtained from the seed capsules of the opium poppy Papaver somniferum. [4] Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, which is processed chemically to produce heroin and other synthetic opioids for medicinal use and for the illegal drug trade.
Papaver somniferum, commonly known as the opium poppy [2] or breadseed poppy, [3] is a species of flowering plant in the family Papaveraceae.It is the species of plant from which both opium and poppy seeds are derived and is also a valuable ornamental plant grown in gardens.
Laudanum is known as a "whole opium" preparation since it historically contained all the alkaloids found in the opium poppy, which are extracted from the dried latex of ripe seed pods (Papaver somniferum L., succus siccus).
Poppy plants contain the opium alkaloids morphine, codeine, and thebaine (among other compounds), which are known for their pain-relieving and sleep-inducing abilities. Poppy seeds don’t ...
Papaverine (Latin papaver, "poppy") is an opium alkaloid antispasmodic drug, used primarily in the treatment of visceral spasms and vasospasms (especially those involving the intestines, heart, or brain), occasionally in the treatment of erectile dysfunction and acute mesenteric ischemia.
Alkaloids that have no effect on the central nervous system were not always considered to be opiates, but current trend is to refer to all alkaloids derived from opium or poppy straw as such. Very small quantities of hydrocodone and hydromorphone are detected in assays of opium on rare occasions; it appears to be produced by the plant under ...
Opium poppy contains at least 50 different alkaloids, but most of them are of very low concentration. Morphine is the principal alkaloid in raw opium and constitutes roughly 8–19% of opium by dry weight (depending on growing conditions). [84] Some purpose-developed strains of poppy now produce opium that is up to 26% morphine by weight.
The alkaloid profiles of poppy straw and opium are similar, but preliminary research suggests they can be distinguished by relative quantities of alkaloids. [21] Based on the presence of the alkaloid oripavine in some opium poppies, it has been suggested that illegal heroin seized in Australia was produced from a legal poppy straw crop stolen ...