Categories
Herbs & Plants

Arizona poppy

Botanical Name :Kallstroemia grandiflora
Family: Zygophyllaceae
Subfamily: Tribuloideae
Genus: Kallstroemia
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Zygophyllales

Synonym(s): Arizona poppy, orange caltrop, summer poppy

Common Name :Caltrop,Arizona Poppy,Arizona Caltrop, Mexican Poppy

Habitat :Kallstroemia grandiflora is native to tropical and warm temperate regions of the Americas. Desert, Upland. It grows in desert washes, along roadsides, and in sunny, open areas.

Description:
Flower Color: Golden orange, Golden yellow

Flowering Season: Summer, Fall (early). This wildflower blooms after the summer monsoon rains have begun.

Height: Sprawling to 3 feet (91 cm) long

The flowers are up to 2 1/2 inches (6 cm) wide and have 5 petals with raised, orange veins and dark red-orange at the base of the petals. In favorable areas, the blooming plants can create large-scale wildflower displays. The flowers are followed by bristly, beaked fruits that split into 10 nutlets. The leaves are green, opposite, and pinnately compound with paired, oval leaflets. The stems are hairy and sprawling.

CLICK & SEE THE PICTURES

Categories
Herbs & Plants

Celandine Poppy

[amazon_link asins=’B01MZCGHAY,B00HME5GC4,B07111RFHW,B00B1GO238,B0716BCXPV,B071R5TFP8,B071KTR587,B071D39SGG,B06XH6SBQT’ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’finmeacur-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’f0441600-36d4-11e7-8bcd-ddb2ddd9df7e’]

[amazon_link asins=’B00HME5GC4,B01N02UBVP,B01G56LPZ6,B01KHOY34M,B00B1GO238,B01DDCXSLE,B01AN5Q2S0,B000H4MYOO,B01C36H51U’ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’finmeacur-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’c27fafee-05a5-11e7-8fc2-f99fc959df57′]

Botanical Name:Stylophorum diphyllum
Family:PapaveraceaePoppy family
Common Name:wood poppy, celandine poppy, mock poppy, yellow poppy
Synonyms : Chelidonium diphyllum

Kingdom:Plantae – Plants
Division:Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class:Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass: Magnoliidae
Genus:Stylophorum Nutt. – stylophorum
Species: Stylophorum diphyllum (Michx.) Nutt. – celandine poppy

Habitat:Shade to part sun.  Native to eastern North America. Celandine Poppy is a very attractive woodland wildflower for the shade garden and can be grown over most of the United States

Description: It is a herbaceous perennial plant.Bloom Between April to June. Color of flower is yellow.Height of the plant is 12 to 16 inches.It is a very showy flower for the spring and early summer shade garden.  Plant Celandine Poppy in average to rich soil in part sun to shade in a formal flower garden, wildflower garden or along a shady walk.  This showy wildflower adapts easily to the flower garden.
click to see the pictures……(01)......(1)..…...(2)..….…(3)..…..…(4)..……………..

Medicinal Uses:
It contains glaucine . Preparations are used in the treatment of insomnia, upper respiratory infections, and to reduce fever as well as in ointments for the treatment of burns and superficial abrasions. In veterinary medicine, ointments are used in the treatment of mastitis.

A member of the poppy plant family, celandine has been known to treat colon cancer as well. It also boosts the immune system so that cancer and other disease never have a chance to develop. Further, the herb treats diseases like asthma and atherosclerosis.

Disclaimer:The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplements, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider.

Resources:
http://www.prairiemoon.com/store/template/product_detail.php?IID=1358&=c5374f038f1bce09738f6afcef6dfac6
http://www.easywildflowers.com/quality/sty.dip.htm
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Celandine_Poppy_Stylophorum_diphyllum_Flower_2290px.jpg
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=STDI3&photoID=stdi3_004_ahp.tif&format=print
http://www.piam.com/mms_garden/plants.html
http://www.gardenguides.com/plants/info/flowers/perennials/celandinepoppy.asp

Enhanced by Zemanta
Categories
Herbs & Plants

Opium Poppy

[amazon_link asins=’B00VDN8KPK,B01COD70TE’ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’finmeacur-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’0ae55be6-1c0f-11e7-82fb-fbe9ac909b68′]

A field of opium poppies in Burma.
Image via Wikipedia

Botanical Name:Papaver somniferum Linn
Family Name: Papaveraceae,Papaver somniferum L.
Vernacular Name: Sans-Ahiphenam ,Hind – Aphim, Eng – opium poppy, common poppy, garden poppy, chessbolls (English), Kas-kas, kashkash, aphim, afim, afyun (Hindu)
Ahiphenam, aphukam, ahifen, chosa, khasa (Sanskrit),Pasto (Bengal) Aphina, khuskhus, posta (Gujarat), Abini, gashagasha, kasakasa (Tamil)
(names used for plants, fruit capsules, seeds and opium)

Other Name:Ahiphenam
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Ranunculales
Genus: Papaver
Species: P. somniferum
Parts used: Seeds, seed oil, unripe capsules and flowers
Habitat:Native to Southeastern Europe and western Asia. Also known as opium poppy, the species is cultivated extensively in many countries, including Iran, Turkey, Holland, Poland, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, India, Canada, and many Asian and Central and South American countries. Reaching a height of 1.2 meters, the erect plant can have white, pink, red, or purple flowers. Seeds range in color from white to a slate shade that is called blue in commercial classifications.

Description:It is an annual herb.An opium poppy seedling (Papaver somniferum), showing two slender cotyledons and several young, developing leaves. The seed is still attached to one of the cotyledons. Note the favose-reticulate (honeycombed) seed coat. The following image shows the very pale flower that developed from these seedlings.
Flowers – with papery petals that can vary in colour from white to red or lilac with a darker purple base…..CLICK  & SEE THE PICTURES..
Fruits – a rounded capsule topped with the disc-like stigma remains. The liquid that is obtained from the fruit capsule contains morphine alkaloids which are dried to produce raw opium. Opium is used to manufacture medicinal drugs such as codeine and morphine, and for illegal drugs such as heroin.
Seeds – small and black, dark blue or yellow-white. The seeds are edible and tasty and are used in bakery products such as poppy-seeded bread.
The reported life zone of poppy is 7 to 23 degrees centigrade with an annual precipitation of 0.3 to 1.7 meters and a soil pH of 4.5 to 8.3 (4.1-31). The plants grow best in rich, moist soil and tend to be frost sensitive.

A latex  containing several important alkaloids is obtained from immature seed capsules one to three weeks after flowering. Incisions are made in the walls of the green seed pods, and the milky exudation is collected and dried. Opium and the isoquinoline alkaloids morphine, codeine, noscapine, papaverine, and thebaine are isolated from the dried material. The poppy seeds and fixed oil that can be expressed from the seed are not narcotic, because they develop after the capsule has lost the opium-yielding potential (11.1-128). Total yield of alkaloids is dependent on light, temperature, the plant species, and the time of harvest (5.2-4).

You may click to learn :->How to grow Opium Poppy
Varieties:-
Papaver somniferum is a species of plant with many sub-groups or varieties. Colors of the flower vary widely, as do other physical characteristics such as number and shape of petals, number of pods, production of morphine, etc.

Papaver somniferum Paeoniflorum Group (sometimes called Papaver paeoniflorum) is a sub-type of opium poppy whose flowers are highly double, and are grown in many colors. Papaver somniferum Laciniatum Group (sometimes called Papaver laciniatum) is a sub-type of opium poppy whose flowers are highly double and deeply lobed, to the point of looking like a ruffly pompon.

A few of the varieties, notably the Norman and Przemko varieties, have low morphine content (less than one percent), but have much higher concentrations of other alkaloids. Most varieties, however, including those most popular for ornamental use or seed production, have a higher morphine content, with the average content being 10%

Uses:The Opium Poppy, Papaver somniferum, is the type of poppy from which opium and many refined opiates, including morphine, thebaine, codeine, papaverine, and noscapine, are extracted. The binomial name means, loosely, the “sleep-bringing poppy“, referring to its narcotic properties. The seeds are important food items, and contain healthy oils used in salads worldwide. The plant itself is valuable for ornamental purposes.

Properties:The petals are bitter, expectorant, sudorific and sedative, and are useful in coughs. The opium obtained from the fruits is constipating, bitter, astringent, sweet, aphrodisiac, sedative, narcotic, anodyne, antispasmodic, sudorific and nervineonic.
Medicinal Uses:In India and Turkey, opium production is used for medicinal purposes, making poppy-based drugs, such as morphine or codeine, for domestic use or exporting raw poppy materials to other countries. The United States buys 80 percent of its medicinal opium from these two countries.
In Ayurveda it is emaciating, astringent; efficacious in deranged kapha but excites vata and pitta anticovulsant, sedative, narcotic, diaphoretic, analgesic, used in urinary troubles,cough, bronchial diseases, diarrhoea; styptic.
A recent initiative to extend opium production for medicinal purposes called Poppy for Medicine was launched by The Senlis Council which proposes that Afghanistan could produce medicinal opium under a scheme similar to that operating in Turkey and India (see the Council’s recent report “Poppy for Medicine” ). The Council proposes licensing poppy production in Afghanistan, within an integrated control system supported by the Afghan government and its international allies, in order to promote economic growth in the country, create vital drugs and combat poverty and the diversion of illegal opium to drug traffickers and terrorist elements. Interestingly, Senlis is on record advocating reintroduction of poppy into areas of Afghanistan, specifically Kunduz, which has been poppy free for some time.

It is useful in cough,’ ophthalmitis, otitis and proctalgia and coxalgia due to diarrhoea and dysentery. It is also good for internal haemorrhages.

The seeds are sweet, constipating, aphrodisiac and tonic. They are ground in cold water and administered in diarrhoea and dysentery.

Vapours of boiling water, mixed with small doses of opium, is. useful in conjunctivitis. Camphorated opium is an excellent pain-killer in sprain. However, it is contraindicated for people suffering from asthma, cardiac diseases and urinary disorder. Poppy seeds are demulcent, nutritive and mild astringent; beneficial in cough and asthma.

Seed oil, freed from narcotic principles, is useful in diarrhoea and dysentery

Disclaimer:The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplements, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider.

Resources:
http://www.ayurvedakalamandiram.com/herbs.htm
http://www.opioids.com/poppy.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opium_poppy
http://www.plantcultures.org/plants/opium_poppy_plant_profile.html

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]
Categories
Herbs & Plants

Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis)

[amazon_link asins=’B005DNP55Y,B0006ONGLA,B00014HG3E,B013GDKIRW,B00E4QUYKW,B0006ONGM4,B005BW28L6,B06Y1QQGYN,B06XZYLK5D’ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’finmeacur-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’2e423810-74df-11e7-8965-593329ab3faf’]

Botanical Name: Sanguinaria canadensis
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Ranunculales
Family: Papaveraceae
Genus: Sanguinaria
Species: S. canadensis

Common Names: Bloodwort, Redroot, Red puccoon, Pauson Tetterwort, although that name is also used to refer to Chelidonium majus.

Parts Used: Root and rhizome
Habitat: Bloodroot is  native to eastern North America. It  grows in Rich woods. Across Canada to Nova Scotia; south from New England to Florida; west to Eastern Texas; north to Manitoba.

Description:
Bloodroot is a perennial, herbaceous flowering plant. It grows from 20 to 50 cm (7.9 to 19.7 in) tall. It has one large basal leaf, up to 12 cm (4.7 in) across, with five to nine lobes. The leaves and flowers sprout from a reddish rhizome with bright orange sap that grows at or slightly below the soil surface. The rhizomes grow longer each year, and branch to form colonies. Plants start to bloom before the foliage unfolds in early spring. After blooming the leaves expand to their full size and go summer dormant in mid to late summer.

The flowers bloom from March to May depending on the region and weather. They have 8-12 delicate white petals and yellow stamens, and two sepals below the petals, which fall off after the flowers open. The flower stems are clasped by the leaves. The flowers are pollinated by small bees and flies. Seeds develop in green pods 40 to 60 mm (1.6 to 2.4 in) long, and ripen before the foliage goes dormant. The seeds are round and black to orange-red when ripe, and have white elaiosomes, which are eaten by ants.

You may click to see the pictures.

Cultivation:
Bloodroot is cultivated as an ornamental plant. The double-flowered forms are prized by gardeners for their large showy white flowers, which are produced very early in the gardening season. Bloodroot flower petals are shed within a day or two of pollination so the flower display is short lived, but the double forms bloom much longer than the normal forms. The double flowers are made up of stamens that have been changed into petal looking like parts, making pollination more difficult.

History:
American Indians used root tea for rheumatism, asthma, bronchitis, lung ailments, laryngitis, fevers; also as an emetic. Root juice applied to warts; also used as a dye and a decorative skin stain.
A bachelor of the Ponca tribe would rub a piece of the root as a love charm on the palm of his hand, then scheme to shake hands with the woman he desired to marry. After shaking hands, the girl would be found willing to marry him in 5 to 6 days.
One of the earliest reported uses of bloodroot, or puccoon, as it was then commonly known, was a dye. John Smith reported in 1612 that “Pocones is a small roote that groweth in the mountaines, which being dryed and beate in powder turneth red; and this they use for swellings, aches, annointing their joints, painting their heads and garments . . . and at night where his lodging is appointed, they set a woman fresh painted red with Pocones and oile, to be his bedfellow.”

Constituents: Sanguinarine, Sanguidimerine, Cholerythrine, Protopine, Berberine, Copticine, Red resin.The root contains several alkaloids, most notably sanguinarine, which has shown antiseptic, anesthetic and anticancer activity. American Indians used the root for rhuematism, asthma, bronchitis, lung ailments, laryngyitis and fevers. The red-orange juice from the root was applied to warts, used as a dye and a decorative skin stain.

Medicinal Properties:    Antiseptic, antispasmodic, cathartic, diuretic, emetic, emmenagogue, expectorant, febrifuge, sedative, stimulant, and tonic.

Main Uses:

Bloodroot has been used as a diuretic, emetic, emmenagogue, expectorant, febrifuge, stimulant, and tonic. Bloodroot has been used historically in numerous topical preparations for the treatment of various skin cancers, and also for sores, warts, eczema, and other dermal & epidermal problems. It has also been used internally in herbal preparations for congestive lung conditions such as emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Studies find that sanguinarine, a compound found in bloodroot, kills bacteria, stops them from converting carbohydrates into gum tissue-eating acid, and blocks enzymes that destroy collagen in gum tissue. Some studies have shown small amounts to be even more effective in reducing dental plaque than chlorhexidine, the active ingredient in mouthwashes and the effects can last up to 4 hours. Some companies are now making toothpaste and mouthwash using it as an active ingredient. The root in a vinegar extract makes a very good antifungal wash for athlete’s foot. Prepared as a powder, bloodroot may be sniffed to treat nasal polyps.

The paste of the root has been recommended to remove warts and the powder is used in a number of cancer salves (a process too complicated for this monograph). Carcinomas of the human nose and ear have responded to topical treatment with a preparation containing bloodroot extract.
It is used when bronchitis, sub-acute or chronic asthma, croup, laryngitis, pharyngitis and deficient capillary (blood) circulation is indicated. It is used as a specific for asthma and bronchitis with feeble peripheral blood circulation.
Bloodroot has been used for many years by American Indians and herbal practitioners as a remedy for skin cancer. The fresh juice from the root, a concentrated tincture, or a salve containing capsicum and fresh juice concentrate has been used.

Contraindications:   In some cases, excessive doses of Bloodroot can cause low blood pressure, vertigo, tremors, vomiting, reduced pulse, shock, and coma. Large doses can be poisonous.

Some experts recommend the following doses:
Steep a level teaspoonful of the fresh root into a pint of boiling water for half an hour. Strain. When cold, take a teaspoonful 3 times a day.
As a tincture (1:5 in 60% alcohol), 2 drops three times a day.
As an extract (1:1 in 60% alcohol), 1 drop three times a day.

Other Uses:
Commercial uses of sanguinarine and bloodroot extract include dental hygiene products. The United States FDA has approved the inclusion of sanguinarine in toothpastes as an antibacterial or anti-plaque agent. However, the use of bloodroot in oral hygiene products is associated with the development of oral leukoplakia, a premalignant lesion which may develop into oral cancer. On 24 Nov 2003, the Colgate-Palmolive Company of Piscataway, New Jersey, United States commented by memorandum to the United States Food and Drug Administration that then-proposed rules for levels of sanguinarine in mouthwash and dental wash products were lower than necessary. However, this conclusion is controversial.

Some animal food additives sold and distributed in Europe such as Phytobiotics’ Sangrovit contain sanguinarine and chelerythrine. On 14 May 2003, Cat Holmes reported in Georgia Faces that Jim Affolter and Selima Campbell, horticulturists at the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, were meeting with Phytobiotics to relate their research into commercial cultivation of bloodroot.

Plant dye:
Bloodroot is a popular red natural dye used by Native American artists, especially among southeastern rivercane basketmakers. The blood of the root (when cut open) was used as a dye. A break in the surface of the plant, especially the roots, reveals a reddish sap.

Warning!
Bloodroot is dangerous. It should only be used with
guidance of a trained herbalist or physician.

Disclaimer:
The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplements, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider.

Resources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanguinaria
http://ncnatural.com/wildflwr/blodroot.html
http://www.ct-botanical-society.org/galleries/sanguinariacana.html

http://www.herbnet.com/Herb%20Uses_AB.htm

Enhanced by Zemanta
Categories
Herbs & Plants Herbs & Plants (Spices)

Poppy Seeds

[amazon_link asins=’B00K5R5350,B01M66TBJB’ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’finmeacur-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’80b58fd0-07a5-11e7-9c64-e7a30c733091′]

[amazon_link asins=’B00VDN8KPK,B01COD70TE’ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’finmeacur-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’ad00851b-07a5-11e7-9255-8380970ca227′]

Scientific Name(S): Although a variety of members of the genus Papaver are called poppies, P. somniferum L. and p. bracteatum Lindl. are important commercially and medicinally. Family: Papaveraceae

Common Name(S): P. somniferum: Opium poppy, poppyseed poppy. P. bracteatum: Thebaine poppy, great scarlet poppy.

General Description
Poppy Seeds are tiny nuttytasting, bluegray seeds inside capsules on Papaver somniferum, a yellowishbrown opium plant indigenous to the Mediterranean.

Plant Description and Cultivation
An annual, reaching 30-120cm (1-4ft), the lobed leaves have a blue tinge. The flowers are white to purple; those of Papaver rhoeas, red. They grow up to 12cm (5in) in diameter. The Eastern wild varieties usually sport lilaccoloured blooms. Many wild species occur, such as the Corn Poppy (P. rhoeas), often seen in cornfields. Some varieties are grown ornamentally. When the flowers fade, a capsule remains, rounded and crowned with a star-shaped stigma. On drying, it splits, casting out myriad seeds in the winds. There are nearly one million seeds to the pound (0.5kg). Wild varieties flower from June to August, cultivated varieties in July.

 

Poppy Plants

Poppy plant….>…..(1)….…(2)..….…(3)..……….

Geographical Sources

Poppies are native to Mediterranean regions, India, China, Turkey, and Iran. Today, Holland and Canada are the main producers of poppy seeds.

Uses (Traditional and Ethenic)
The seeds are an important food item, and contain healthy oils used in salads worldwide.
Poppy Seeds are used to flavor breads, cakes, rolls, and cookies in European and Middle Eastern cooking.Poppy seeds are widely consumed in many parts of central and eastern Europe. The sugared, milled mature seeds are eaten with pasta or they are boiled with milk and used as filling or topping on various kinds of sweet pastry. Some consider this cuisine tradition to have Pagan roots In Turkey, they are often ground and used in desserts. In India, the seeds are ground and used to thicken sauces and preparing different vegetable dishes.Sometimes they use the poppy seed paste in the prepatration of motton and chicken dishes too. The seeds are also used in noodle, fish, and vegetable dishes in Jewish, German, and Slavic cooking.Poppy seeds are widely used in Bengali cuisine.

Poppy Seeds are a classic addition to buttered egg noodles, fruit salad dressings, and fragrant yeast breads. Poppy Seeds add nutty flavor and texture to cookies, cakes, breads, strudels, pastry crusts, and pancake and waffle batters.

click to see the pictures…>..(1).……..(2).………(3).…....(4).…...(5).…...(6).….

Although the drug opium is produced by “milking” latex from the unripe fruits (“seed pods”) rather than from the seeds, all parts of the plant can contain or carry the opium alkaloids, especially morphin and codeine and they have several uses in the preparation of different types of drugs and medicines.

Constituents—The most important constituents of opium are the alkaloids, whichconstitute in good opium about one-fifth of the weight of the drug. No fewer than twenty-one have been reported.

The principal alkaloid, both as regards its medicinal importance, and the quantity in which it exists, is Morphine. Next to this, Narcotine and Codeine are of secondary importance. Among the numerous remaining alkaloids, amounting in all to about 1 per cent of the drug, are Thebaine, Narceine, Papaverine, Codamine and Rhoeadine.

Meconic acid exists to the extent of about 5 per cent combined with morphine. This acid is easily identified, and is important in toxicological investigation, as corroborative of the presence of opium.

Meconin and meconiasin exist in small quantity only. Mucilage, sugar, wax, caoutchouc and salts of calcium, and magnesiumare also contained in opium, and sulphuric acid is found in the ash. The presence of starch, tannin, oxalic acid and fat, common constituents of most plants, indicates adulteration, as these substances do not occur normally in the drug. Powdered poppy capsules stones, small shot, pieces of lead, gum, grape must, sugary fruits, and other mechanical impurities, have also been used as adulterants of opium. The drug should not contain more than 12 1/2 per cent of moisture.

Attributed Medicinal Properties
Western poppy syrup is an anodyne and expectorant. Eastern poppy is an anodyne and narcotic. Cough mixtures and syrups are also made from this variety, which is further used as a poultice with chamomile. An infusion of seeds is said to help ear and tooth ache. The seeds have appetising qualities. The use and dangers of poppy plant derivatives, such as morphine, heroin and codeine, are well known. In the Middle Ages an anaesthetic was produced called ‘the soporific sponge’, an infusion made of poppy, mandrake, hemlock and ivy that was poured over a sponge and held under the patient’s nostrils.

Poppy seeds are effective for fever inflammation and irritation of the stomach. Powdered and mixed with honey they are a recommended cure for dysentery. The oil is used in soaps and in artists paints.

Poppy has been used to relax smooth muscle tone, making it useful in the treatment of diarrhea and abdominal cramping, and used as sedative analgesics and antitussives.

Hypnotic, sedative, astringent, expectorant, diaphoretic, antispasmodic.

The drug was known in very remote times and the Greeks and Romans collected it. It is probable that the physicians of the Arabian school introduced the drug into India, as well as into Europe. It was originally used only as a medicine, the practice of opium eating having first arisen, probably in Persia.

Opium is one of the most valuable of drugs, Morphine and Codeine, the two principal alkaloids, being largely used in medicine.

It is unexcelled as a hypnotic and sedative, and is frequently administered to relieve pain and calm excitement. For its astringent properties, it is employed in diarrhoea and dysentery, and on account of its expectorant, diaphoretic, sedative and antispasmodic properties, in certain forms of cough, etc.

Small doses of opium and morphine are nerve stimulants. The Cutch horsemen share their opium with their jaded steeds, and increased capability of endurance is observed alike in man and beast.

Opium and morphine do not produce in animals the general calmative and hypnotic effects which characterize their use in man, but applied locally, they effectually allay pain and spasm. Owing to the greater excitant action in veterinary patients, the administration of opium does not blunt the perception of pain as effectually as it does in human patients.

The British Pharmacopceia Tincture of Opium, popularly known as Laudanum, is made with 3 OZ. of Opium and equal parts of distilled water and alcohol, and for immediate effects is usually preferable to solid Opium. Equal parts of Laudanum and Soap Liniment make an excellent anodyne, much used externally.

Medicinal Uses:
In folk medicine poppy heads were used in poultices to cure earache and toothache and a remedy for facial neuralgia was to lay the warmed leaves on the skin.  Medieval doctors pounded the seeds with those of sea holly and mixed them with wine to make a lotion for washing the ears, eyes and nostrils of those suffering from insomnia.  Another cure was to mingle the juice with milk and other agents and make them into sleeping pills.  An infusion made from the powdered capsules of poppy was once applied externally to sprains and bruises and a poppy flower poultice applied to excessive redness of the skin.  A flower compress reduced inflammation and helped watering eyes and also helped to banish dark circles around the eyes.  Morphine, heroin, codeine and papaverine are all derived from the milk juice of the opium poppy.  One poppy product, laudanum, an addictive tincture of opium, was a universal cure-all, widely prescribed by doctors in the 19th century-its abuse celebrated by De Quincey, Coleridge and Baudelaire, among others. It was frequently administered to relieve pain and calm excitement, and was also used in bad cases of diarrhea and dysentery.  It has both hypnotic and sedative effects.  Opium tincture and extract may be used internally to treat depression.
TCM:  Contains the leakage of Lung qi: for chronic coughs; binds up the intestines: for chronic diarrhea and dysenteric disorders; Stabilizes the lower burner: for polyuria, spermatorrhea or vaginal discharge; Alleviates pain: for any kind of pain, especially that of the sinews, bones or epigastrium.

Pharmacological Effects: Morphine is a very strong analgesic; in fact, it is the standard by which all other analgesics are judged.  It raises the pain threshold and also reduces the pain reflex.  That is, even though the pain sensation is still perceived, it is no longer regarded as particularly uncomfortable.  Codeine has approximately 1/4 the analgesic effect of morphine.  Morphine and codeine are both hypnotics, but they induce only a light and restless sleep.  Morphine is a strong and highly selective respiratory depressant.  The dosage that acts in this manner is lower than an analgesic dosage.  Codeine’s effect on respiration is much weaker than that of morphine.  Also a strong cough suppressant.  Morphine causes peripheral vasodilation and histamine release, which can lead to orthostatic hypotension.  Morphine in very low doses causes constipation by increasing the resting tone and markedly decreasing propulsive contractions in the wall of the gut, while decreasing the secretion of digestive juices.  The constipating effect of opium is only really noticeable at the start of the treatment.  It soon diminishes and can if necessary be corrected with small doses of rhubarb or the like.

 

Side Effects of Poppy:

Poppy is known for its highly addictive qualities and has been associated with poisoning and demonstrating symptoms of sedation and sluggishness, and abdominal contractions.

Toxicology: The abuse potential of opium has had an enormous impact on most societies. Deaths due to respiratory depression have been reported and heroininduced deaths are reported commonly. As little as 300 mg of opium can be fatal to humans, although addicts tolerate 2000 mg over 4 hours. Death from circulatory and respiratory collapse is accompanied by cold, clammy skin, pulmonary edema, cyanosis and pupillary constriction. Thebaine has an LD50 of 20 mg/kg in mice.

Significant attention has been focused on the fact that morphine and codeine can be detected in significant amounts in urine following the Ingestion of foods prepared with poppy seeds. After the ingestion of three poppy-seed bagels, urinary codeine and morphine levels were 214 ng/ml and 2797 ng/ml, respectively after 3 hours. Analysis of poppy seeds indicated that an individual consuming a single poppy-seed bagel could ingest up to 1.5 mg of morphine and 0.1 mg of codeine. Opiates have been detected in urine more than 48 hours after the ingestion of culinary poppy seeds. These results confirm that a positive finding of morphine or codeine in urine may not always be due to the ingestion of drugs of abuse.

The Mexican poppy (Argemone mexicana) L. has been associated with poisoning, demonstrating symptoms of sedation, sluggishness and abdominal contractions in rats fed its seeds.

Culinary uses:
In India poppy seeds are usually ground with other spices and used to thicken curries for meat fish and vegetables. Poppy seeds are cooked with jaggery and coconut enveloped in a case of flaky pastry and deep fried to make a delicious sweet called karanji. They are also sprinkled over naan bread and cooked in a clay oven called a tandoor. In Turkey poppy seeds are made into sweet halva and in the middle East they flavour bread and desserts.

Taste and Aroma
Poppy Seeds have a slightly nutty aroma and taste.

History/Region of Origin
Since antiquity, poppies have symbolized honor. Women in second century Crete cultivated poppy plants for opium and Hippocrates suggested opium in medicine. Islamic and Arabian countries used opium as a medicine and narcotic in the sixth century. By the 17th century, Asians used the poppy plant as an opiate. Europeans began trafficking the drug in the 19th century, culminating in the Opium Wars, in which China lost control of the industry. The Greeks used the seeds as flavoring for breads in the second century, and medieval Europeans used them as a condiment with breads.

Help taken from:en.wikipedia.org and www.culinarycafe.com

http://www.herbnet.com/Herb%20Uses_OPQ.htm

Enhanced by Zemanta
css.php