Papaver somniferum L. - Papaveraceae - opium poppy, Schlafmohn
Annual herb, up to 1m tall, native to the Mediterranean, widely cultivated; stem glabrous, glaucous, rarely branched; leaves oblong-ovate, cordate-amplexicaul except the lowest which usually narrows into a short stalk, serrate, crenate or dentate; flowers showy, 5-10 cm in diam., white, pinkish or reddish, rarely pale violet, with or without a basal dark blotch; seeds small, white, blueish, grey, or black.
„Opium poppy is widely cultivated for its latex, containing alkaloids (specially Morphine, Codeine, Thebaine, Narcotine, Narceine and Papaverine), obtained by scratching, notching or making incision on young fruits, usually with a single pointed needle, after the petals have fallen. Opium is used in diarrhoea, diabetes and rheumatism etc., and it locally relieves the pain. It is also an antidote to snake poison and scorpion sting. The seeds are demulcent, nutritive (specially the darkgrey and black ones) and mildly astringent, sedative and narcotic. They yield an oil, used in cooking; darker coloured oil is used for making soap in Europe. The seed itself is used in cooking, making sweets locally as well as in other places in Asia.“
http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=5&taxon_id=220009871
„The headspace of medicinal opium (Ph.Ned.8) was analyzed by means of GC-FID, (+EI)-GC-MS (low and high resolution), and GC-FTIR. After olfactoric evaluation of the headspace sample by professional perfumers by the use of the GC-sniffing technique and after correlation tests with trained police dogs, more than 70 components were identified. With regard to the characteristic olfactoric properties of opium only one class of components, namely pyrazines, is of special interest. The synthetic mixture of 2-methyl-, 2,5-, and 2,6-dimethylpyrazine with 2-methoxy-3-isopropyl- and 2-methoxy-3-isobutylpyrazine was found to represent the original opium odour quite well.“
[Headspace constituents of opium. Buchbauer G, Nikiforov A, Remberg B., Planta Med., Vol.60(2), 1994, 181-183]
„Poppy seed oil (Oleum Papaveris Seminis) is used for culinary and pharmaceutical purposes, as well as for making soaps, paints, and varnishes… In this investigation solid-phase microextraction (SPME) with DVB/Carboxen/PDMS Stable-Flex fiber was applied to the study of volatile compounds of several seed oil samples from Papaver somniferum L. (Papaveraceae). 1-Pentanol (3.3−4.9%), 1-hexanal (10.9−30.9%), 1-hexanol (5.3−33.7%), 2-pentylfuran (7.2−10.0%), and caproic acid (2.9−11.5%) could be identified as the main volatile compounds in all examined poppy seed oil samples.“
[Analysis of volatile compounds and triglycerides of seed oils extracted from different poppy varieties (Papaver somniferum L.)., Krist, S., Stuebiger, G., Unterweger, H., Bandion, F., Buchbauer, G., Journal of agricultural and food chemistry, 53(21), 2005, 8310-8316]
3-Isobutyl-2-methoxypyrazine also occurs as an olfactorly relevant trace constituent in, for example, the scent of seed pots of Papaver somniferum, the leaf scents of Ocimum basilicum, Ocimum sanctum, Ravenala madagascariensis, Piper novo-guinensis, and the flower scents of Daphne odorata, Cattley labiata, and Hyacinthus orientalis.
[Meaningful Scents around the World, R.Kaiser, 2006, 58; R.Kaiser internal Givaudan files]
„The sensory descriptions, aromatic profiles and consumer preferences of poppy seed oils produced from three poppy varieties (ofis3, ofis4, and ofis8) by cold pressing were studied. Roasting and enzyme treatments were applied to the seeds prior to cold pressing. In addition, 75 different volatiles were quantified by GC-MS analysis. A flavor profile analysis was made with 9 panelists and 12 terms were identified for the description of the oil. The results shown that, only earthy term scores were different among the seed varieties, while treatments have caused differences in roasted, hazelnut, hay and sweet aromatic terms. Roasting and enzyme treatments decreased hay and increased sweet aromatic values. The enzyme treatment of the poppy seeds enhanced fermented and waxy scores in the cold press oils. 1-hexanol, 2-heptanone, 2-pentanone, 2-pentyl furan, 3-ethyl-2-methyl 1,3-hexadiene, 2-(dimethylamino)-3-phenylbenzo[b]thiophene, 3-octen-2-one, 4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid, alpha-pinene, limonene, dimethyl sulfone, mercaptoacetic acid, hexanal and nonanal were quantified as the major volatiles in all treatment groups. Consumer test results indicated that roasted samples are more liked…“
[Cold pressed poppy seed oils: sensory properties, aromatic profiles and consumer preferences., Emir, D.D., Güneșer, O., Yılmaz, E., Grasas y Aceites, Vol.65(3), 2014, e029]
http://grasasyaceites.revistas.csic.es/index.php/grasasyaceites/article/viewFile/1494/1566
Thomé, O.W., Flora von Deutschland Österreich und der Schweiz, Tafeln, vol.2, t.259 (1885)
http://plantgenera.org/species.php?id_species=747114