They are used as food and to produce edible oil. The opium poppy plant contains narcotic alkaloids such as morphine and codeine. Poppy seeds do not contain the opium alkaloids, but can become contaminated with alkaloids as a result of pest damage and during harvesting.
The opium alkaloids (morphine, codeine, thebaine, noscapine, and papaverine) have been detected on poppy seeds; they are widely used by the food industry for decoration and flavor but can introduce opium alkaloids into the food chain.
Morphine and codeine are used medically for serious pain, sedation, acute pulmonary edema, cough, and diarrhea. Heroin (diacetylmorphine) is a more potent form and is used illicitly to obtain a "high".
The high nutritional value of the poppy seeds consists in oils of the highest nutritional quality. The oil content in seeds varies usually between 26 to 52 per cent. Most of the fatty acids in poppy seeds belongs to the unsaturated type, mainly oleic and linoleic acids. Among the saturated fatty acids, the higher content was observed only for the palmitic acid.
Poppy seeds
