What is opium made from

Poppy seeds were purchased from a number of retail outlets in the UK with the country of origin identified where available Table 2. The mass spectrometer was operated in positive mode ionization with the specific instrument parameters shown in Table 4 Carlin et al. Table 4. Figure 2 shows the extracted ion chromatograms for each of the alkaloids being analyzed in this work, including deuterated morphine as an internal standard.

An overall run time of 12 min was employed, with all analytes of interest eluting before 10 min. Figure 2. Extracted chromatograms from a mixed injection of a morphine, b morphine-d3, c codeine, d thebaine, e papaverine, and f noscapine. A minimum of six calibration points, plus a blank, were used with the concentration range and associated linear equations and R 2 values Table 5.

A calibration set was analyzed alongside every data set. Analyte specific validation data is shown in Table 5. Table 5. Validation parameters for morphine, codeine, thebaine, papaverine, and noscapine. For each solvent, extractions were carried out at a different pH's i.

To avoid contamination by plastic residues from pipette tips by the solvents, glass pipettes were employed. Poppy seeds from a portion of the 1 seeds were homogenized using a spice blender and approximately mg of the seeds were weighed into glass Durham tubes four tubes for each of the solvents. For each solvent, the pH was altered to produce a solution of poppy seeds and solvent 1 mL at the specified pHs.

To each solution, deuterated internal standard morphine-d 3 was added. The tubes were then capped and placed into an ultrasonic bath for 10 min, centrifuged at 4, rpm for 10 min. Calibration solutions were prepared in the mobile phase on the day of analysis for each of the extractions.

The ingredients were mixed into a batter and added to each of the dimples of mini-muffin trays purchased from Lakeland Ambleside, Cumbria. The final weight of poppy seeds in each mini-muffin was approximately 1. They were then left to cool to room temperature. The poppy seed muffins were immersed in liquid nitrogen, crushed using a mortar and pestle and transferred to a spice blender for homogenisation prior to extraction and analysis by LC-MS.

The liquid nitrogen method was found to be easiest to apply to the muffins: this was due to the fact that the poppy seeds were incorporated into the sponge of the muffin. Trying to extract each poppy seed from the matrix proved very time consuming and was also considered that any alkaloids that may have interacted with the muffin matrix may also be included in results. Less fatty emulsion was also formed during the extraction method, when liquid nitrogen was employed.

A comparative study was carried out to establish if there was a difference between alkaloid levels resulting from poppy seeds incorporated into the matrix of the muffin to those resulting from poppy seeds coated onto a bread roll. The dough was then split into 4 equal portions and each one was pressed into poppy seeds. The rolls were left to cool to room temperature and the poppy seeds were scraped from the surface using a metal spatula and homogenized in a spice blender prior to extraction and analysis by LC-MS.

It was found that at the extremes of the polarity scale diethyl ether, dichloromethane, and water , the chromatograms produced were complex and with poor peak shape for the alkaloids; these observations were independent of pH.

In contrast, the optimum result, in terms of alkaloid presence and peak shape, was obtained using the solvent mixture i.

For this reason, this extraction solvent mixture was used for all subsequent extraction's. For each source, the mean weight of each of the alkaloids in poppy seeds was calculated.

When the levels of morphine in poppy seeds from each of the different sources was compared Table 7 , it was found that there was much variation within batch but also between sources of poppy seeds. There is much variation in the extracted opiate compounds, which is primarily due to the environmental differences of the seeds Katrine et al. The country of origin for both of these poppy seed sources is unknown.

When the same comparison was carried out for codeine Table 7 it was also found that there was much variation within different portions of the same batch and between sources of poppy seeds as was the case with morphine. Source 2, which was found to have a level of morphine much higher than the other sources, was also found to have a higher level of codeine. No other similarities can be drawn from the data. It was also found that the same source with the highest levels of morphine and codeine also exhibited the highest levels of thebaine.

Noscapine was identified in only two of the eight sources of poppy seeds Table 7. It was found that the seeds from source 7 contained the highest levels of noscapine of the two sources where noscapine was identified.

Papaverine was detected in some of the analyzed seeds but peaks were so small that it was not possible to quantify them. It has been identified that sub-varieties of Papaver somniferum L. However, this taxonomic information was not available from the suppliers of the seeds. It has been known since Annett, that factors, such as the season in which the plants are grown, weather conditions, and quality and type of fertilizer used can greatly affect the levels of alkaloids biosynthesised by Papaver somniferum L.

In turn, the levels of alkaloids found in opium latex will also be affected. No data currently exist that compares levels of alkaloids in opium latex and alkaloids from the same plant but it is assumed that the levels would correlate.

On this basis, the country of origin, where the plant was grown in the field e. This means that if a batch of poppy seeds is harvested from one field, naturally there will be variation in the levels of alkaloids from each of the plants. It has also been shown that the alkaloids present in the opium latex may contaminate the poppy seeds as part of the growing process and that a batch of poppy seeds is the combination of multiple fields in one country: all of these factors may explain why there is such variation within batch and between sources of poppy seeds.

However, the muffin matrix greatly interfered with the extraction process. During the extraction process, a fatty emulsion was formed which affected further sample preparation techniques Figure 3. These aliquots were filtered twice prior to being transferred into HPLC vials however when the chromatograms were analyzed for these muffin extractions, no alkaloids were identified.

For this reason, it was not possible to include the poppy seed muffins extract results in the comparison between harvested poppy seeds, thermally processed seeds on their own and poppy seeds on the top of bread buns. In addition, seed portions from three randomly selected sources were extracted and analyzed with the results shown in Table 8.

Again, as was established with extractions of harvested poppy seeds there was much variation in the alkaloids identified and in the levels of those alkaloids present, Deuterated morphine was added prior to extraction of the alkaloids from the seeds and percentage extractions were incorporated into the calculations.

Figure 3. Sample tubes containing poppy seed muffin and extraction solvent, post agitation, and centrifugation. But although there was a sharp drop in - when it was last in control - opium poppy cultivation in Taliban-held areas has risen in subsequent years. Opium poppy plants can be refined to form the the basis for several highly addictive drugs, including heroin. After the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said: "When we were in power before there was no production of drugs.

He said "we will bring opium cultivation to zero again" and that there would be no smuggling. At first, opium poppy cultivation rose substantially under Taliban rule - from around 41, hectares in , to more than 64, in , according to the US State Department.

But in July the Taliban banned opium poppy farming in areas they controlled. And a UN report in May "observed the near total success of the ban in eliminating poppy cultivation in Taliban controlled areas". Following the Taliban's ban on opium poppy farming, there was a noticeable dip in opium and heroin seizures globally in and In the opium-producing districts of Yugoslavia, the "white poppy" is used almost exclusively for obtaining opium.

The "white poppy" is a plant which has predominantly white flowers, nearly white or pale coloured seeds and closed capsules. It is mainly Papaver somniferum var. Individual plants with violet flowers may often be seen in fields of flowering poppy. Some cultivators eliminate such plants, because they consider that they yield weaker opium and less oil. Such weeding out was tried for two years, first at the District Experimental Station at Kavadarci, and then over larger areas sown with seeds obtained from plants with violet flowers.

Early results showed that they did not fall short of plants with white flowers and that the widely spread rumour of their poor quality was unfounded. It should be borne in mind that this poppy with violet flowers differs from the aforementioned blue-black poppy cultivated in the northern areas of the country, and that, morphologically speaking, it is similar to the white opium poppy.

In the Kocani area, there seems to exist another type of poppy with dark-coloured flowers which is characterized by a smaller number of stamens.

Attempts to transfer the Macedonian poppy to other districts of Yugoslavia and to other countries have not been successful. Plants grown from the best Macedonian seed have yielded opium of a weaker quality than they did in Macedonia.

The climatic conditions of the People's Republic of Macedonia are suitable for growing the opium poppy. These are a mild and damp winter, sometimes with a covering of snow, and a rapid transition to a very hot and dry summer. Spring frosts are very dangerous because they can destroy the young plants. At the beginning, the plants need a great deal of moisture in order to take root and develop properly, but at the end of their period of growth they need hot and dry weather; in such weather the alkaloid content increases.

Nevertheless, these are the districts which produce opium of particularly high quality. Wind presents a grave danger to the opium poppy before and during the incision of the capsule. Before the incision, a strong and warm wind is liable to dry the stems and capsules, so that they yield little latex.

At the time of the incision of the capsules wind is dangerous because it causes them to knock against each other, so that the latex is lost or smeared over the capsules and therefore cannot be gathered. Heavy and clayey soil, as well as waterlogged soil, are not suitable.

Waterlogged soil yields unduly thin latex, which gradually trickles down the capsule. The soil is usually enriched with horse and cattle manure and the manure of small domestic animals; of late, fertilizers have been used up to kg of nitrogenous fertilizer and up to kg of superphosphate per hectare.

The fertilized soil often yields more than twice the amount of seeds, oil and opium than unfertilized ground. The composition of the soil is an essential factor on which the morphine content depends. If all other conditions are fulfilled, the poppy flourishes best at altitudes not greatly above sea-level. Most of the cultivation is at less than metres above sea-level and seldom as high as metres.

Of the most important Yugoslav opium centres, Gevgelija is the lowest above sea-level 57 metres and Ko cani the highest metres. The fruit is a roundish or oval hollow capsule, 2. On the upper part of the fruit, there is a radiate sear, remains of stigma, usually with 10 to 14 sides. The pedicle is short and is attached to the stem by a small bulging ring. The unripe pericarp is grey-green or blue-green in colour, while the ripe pericarp is yellowish.

The seeds are obtained from selected, well-developed capsules. There are cultivators who leave some capsules uncut and take the seeds from them when they are quite ripe, because they believe that seeds from incised capsules are less likely to germinate.

Seeds vary greatly in colour, from greyish white to light brown. In selecting seeds for sowing, no attention is paid to their colour or shade. It has not been ascertained whether differences in the colour of seeds have any effect on the quantity or quality of opium.

The opium poppy is usually sown in the second half of September in two to four furrows, generally after the first autumn rains, which moisten the earth and promote proper germination. In spite of the risk of a hard winter and spring frost to which autumn cultivation is exposed, spring sowing is rare and is in general resorted to only when autumn crops are destroyed during the winter. Spring sowing does not give such a large or good yield as autumn sowing.

The long period of vegetation promotes the formation of alkaloids and, moreover, the spring crop may not develop sufficiently before the dry period and may wither without yielding either opium or seeds. Spring sowing is carried out in the first fine days of the year, usually in the second half of February or the first half of March. The seeds are very small, and are difficult to sow evenly. For this reason, in some places they are mixed with sand 2 to 4 kg of sand per kg of seed.

Sowing with a seeder is carried out usually in rows at intervals of 30 to 40 cm. The earth is harrowed, so that the seeds are sown 1 or 2 cm deep. From 6 to 10 kg of seed are used to sow one hectare. The spring operations are usually carried out in the second half of February and consist of pulling up grass and weeds, thinning so that one plant should be approximately 10 cm away from the next and banking up with earth.

A second banking-up operation is usually carried out in the first half of March. At the beginning of May, the fields become white with the flowering poppy, and when the flowers fall off, the capsules develop. Each plant yields from five to eight capsules. The incisions are made before the capsules are quite ripe, ten to fifteen days after the flowers fall off, at the end of May or the beginning of June. The best time for making the incisions is determined by the colour and hardness of the capsules and by the appearance of a blue-brown ring at the bottom of the capsule.

The period during which the capsules can be incised and the latex successfully collected does not exceed four to six days.

However, it is impossible to give a description of the plant on the basis of its external characteristics, for the following reasons: firstly, Papaver somniferum is a cultivated plant and secondly, it is found over a large part of the earth's surface.

These two circumstances made it possible for a plant to produce almost infinite numbers of variations, according to the varied climatic, soil and other conditions in which it grows. Moreover, hybrids are developed by horticulturists; and in addition, the flower, while often self-pollinated, is sometimes cross-pollinated, with the result that in a single field spontaneous hybridization may occur; indeed, open and closed capsules have even been found together on the same plant.

The flower may be single or double, with considerable variation of shape, arrangement and colour of petals white, pink, red, purple, crimson or variegated. Here again contradictory assertions and classifications, attributing particular effects on the plant's alkaloid content to certain colours of seed, are made.

The fact is that there are white, yellow, coffee-coloured, black, grey, blue, etc. The capsules may be of different shapes elongated, globular, oblate, etc. The capsules may also be closed or open, and there may be two, three or more capsules on each plant. Lastly, the poppy may vary as to height 30 to centimetres or more , stem appearance glabrous or hairy , and leaf, which may be of many different shapes.

The practical conclusion is that it is impossible, from the botanical standpoint, to distinguish any precise varieties. That is a matter for the horticulturist see, e. The normal process is that poppies cultivated in a given region eventually acquire a number of common general characteristics and tend to form a local variety.

Thus, for example, the so-called muhacirmali poppies, which were imported from Macedonia into European Turkey and after poppy-growing was prohibited there were sown in Asia Minor, soon acquired the characteristics of the local poppies see "The Cultivation of the Opium Poppy in Turkey", Bulletin of Narcotics, Vol.

The last question arising in connexion with Papaver somniferum is the distribution of the alkaloids in the various parts of the plant. Generally speaking, there are two points to note:. The fact that from the botanical point of view it is difficult to distinguish sub-species or varieties within the species Papaver somniferum is immaterial to the agriculturalist, whose concern, whether he is engaged in the production of seeds for food or industry or in opium production, is with yield.

Agronomists have therefore studied the possibilities of developing "races" adapted to a particular climate or soil and, above all, to the particular type of production desired.

For opium production the question is at present being studied at various agronomic research centres, in particular in the Turkish Soil Products Office, which is endeavouring to create types with a high alkaloid yield. Since the poppy, as has been indicated, adapts itself easily to different soil and climatic conditions, horticulturists have succeeded by dint of time and care in developing "geographical races" which are relatively constant and well-adapted to the soil and climate of the given country.

Thus efforts were made, with success, to develop closed-capsule species, and these are at present the predominating type, for instance, in Asia Minor: their capsules are larger and rounder, and consequently harvesting is easier; and in addition the morphine yield is generally two or three per cent higher than that of plants with dehiscent capsules.

The poppy is a hardy plant; it will grow in varying climates but cannot endure extreme cold. In a cold climate, its opium yield is greatly diminished: climatic conditions, particularly humidity, affect the yield more than any other factor. In damp climates the poppy is attacked by the peronospora and other plant diseases.

Moreover, if there is much rain, the plants grow very tall and may be beaten down when they are ripe. Heavy rain at the time of harvesting washes away some of the latex and may even wash it off completely. Thus the ideal conditions are snow in winter, rain in spring and dry weather while the plant is mature. As the poppy cannot stand extreme cold, it cannot be cultivated in frosty climates unless there is a sufficient covering of snow in winter to protect the seed and the young plant.

The poppy is very sensitive to wind, particularly when it is maturing. The capsule is then comparatively heavy; it may be beaten down and the latex lost.