This is one of the world's most ancient crops
that has been in use since before we even recorded history. This plant seed may harmlessly adorn your
morning bagel, its flowers may bring a pop of color to your garden but its milk is at the heart of
one of today's major health crises. This is the Opium Poppy. Hey! I'm Tasha the Amazon
and you're watching Floralogic. Papaver Somniferum, otherwise known as the Opium poppy or
Breadseed poppy, is as essential for humanity as it is deadly. The Opium poppy is a self-pollinating
annual that grows to be up to a meter and a half tall. It belongs to the Papaveraceae family, a
group of over 800 flowering plant species spread over 44 genera, most of which are herbaceous but
with a few woody shrubs and some small tropical trees mixed in to keep it interesting. Most species
of this family are popular garden flowers with beautiful blooms ranging from white to pink and
red to orange or purple and yellow. The tiny seeds of these plants share a common dispersal method:
they are shaken out by the wind through holes in the top of their dried seed capsules. People have
been purposely planting poppies for a very, very long time... since even before recorded history,
humans have known the power of the poppy. There is plenty of evidence of opium poppy cultivation
all over Europe, the Mediterranean, and West Asia as far back as 6000 BCE during the Neolithic era. This
abundance of evidence actually makes it harder to pinpoint the exact location of first cultivation,
but scientists believe that the opium poppy is native to the Anatolian Peninsula or Mesopotamia,
which is now modern-day Turkey, Iraq, and Kuwait. At first, the seeds were just used as a food source,
but around 1500 BCE, the ancient Greeks made note of the drowsing effect of this plant. Somniferum,
in fact, means "sleep bringing" in Latin. The poppy family is lactiferous. This may sound like a way
of saying awesomely milky, but lactiferous actually means that they produce natural latex. This latex
is either clear, colored or white and milky, like the latex of the opium poppy. Plant latex is a
sap that's stored in tube-like network structure called laticifer, made up of highly specialized
cells all over the plant, except in the seeds. When lacerated, the laticifer leaks latex.
How's that for some alluring alliteration? The compounds in the latex act as a natural
defense against microbes and insects. The drugs heroin, morphine, and codeine are also
derived from this latex. Both the food and pharmaceutical industries harvest their wares
from the same part of the plant: the seed capsule. For the opioid, the latex is harvested five to ten
days after the petals have fallen off while it's still unripe. Timing is everything: if harvested
too early, the latex is watery, and too late, and it starts to lose its potency. Once dried, the
latex turns from milky white to deep brown and it's about 10% morphine. It's this latex
that is the basis for a host of opioid drugs. If left to fully mature, the plant forms poppy
seeds inside the capsules which can be harvested for yummy, yummy snacks. Since the seeds form after
the latex, it was thought that poppy seeds do not contain any opioid alkaloids. That was until the
late 70s when it was discovered you could fail a drug urine test after consuming poppy seed bread.
It turns out that while poppy seeds themselves don't contain opiates, they become contaminated
with morphine from the capsules during harvest. Most opioids are removed during processing
but some always remain. Convicts on parole are sometimes encouraged to avoid poppy seeds
altogether to prevent false positive drug tests. Traces of opioids from poppy seeds can remain in
your pee for 48 hours or more. So, if you're having a drug test, you might want to skip that poppy
seed bagel. Dried poppy latex contains two kinds of opium alkaloids. One type that includes morphine,
codeine, and thebaine acts on the central nervous system. These alkaloids are powerful pain relieving
narcotics and are what make opium so dangerously addictive. The other kind, which includes papaverine
and noscapine, are antispasmodic, working to relax smooth muscles, which are the ones that can't be
controlled by conscious thought, like those in the digestive system. Poppy products like morphine and
codeine are essential in hospitals for pain relief, but, did you know that poppy seeds themselves are
also used in medicine? The poppy seed test checks if there is an abnormal connection between the
colon and the bladder. The patient is fed poppy seeds and are then checked for the next two days
to see if one pops up in their pee. Who knew there was more than one way for poppy seeds to show
up in your urine! While useful in medicine, the darker side of the opium poppy is of course the
illicit drug, heroin. In 1898, it was discovered that morphine treated with the chemical compound
acidic anhydride would yield heroin, a drug that is four to eight times more potent than
morphine - and that much more addictive too. Synthetic opioids that mimic the effect of heroin,
like methadone and demerol, were developed in the 1930s. These opioids hijack The receptors in the
brain that suppress pain and enhance mood, giving users the highly addictive feeling of bliss. If too
much is consumed in the case of an overdose, the receptors are flooded and block the brain from
completing essential functions like breathing. That is why opioids are so deadly and have turned
into such a major health crisis today. For instance, black opium, though sometimes injected, is usually
smoked. Five or six puffs - a dream world beckons. Reality is left behind but problems aren't
solved. Delicious, decorative, and dangerous... Poppies are truly the triple threat of the plant
world. So what should we talk about next? Drop me a suggestion in the comments below and don't
forget to subscribe for new episodes every Friday. Delicious- oh that's right they're not poppies
because poppies have black on the middle well, that's represented by this... that is the
dots. the poppy seeds... and the poppies. yes, it is! certified! i'm returning this shirt.
