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Power-packed seeds
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There's a good side to the much-maligned opium
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Opium seeds are cooking and medicinal ingredients in several cultures. — Photo: Sampath Kumar G.P.
OPIUM CULTIVATION predates written history. The earliest written accounts of it are from circa 3400 B.C. The Sumerians were probably the first to cultivate opium, and they passed on their knowledge to the Assyrians and the Babylonians, who in turn, taught the Egyptians. Hippocrates prescribed opium, but the name morphine (after the Greek god of dreams, Morpheus) arose in the 19th Century after German pharmacists discovered the active principles in opium.
The Hebrews knew about the narcotic properties of the opium plant nearly 2,000 years ago. In the Roman Empire, soldiers who took pity on those being crucified gave them sour wine with poppy juice added to it to dull the pain. The air-dried milky sap from cut unripe opium fruit is the source of drugs such as morphine, codeine, narcotine and heroin.
Opium seeds do not contain opium and are widely used in cooking and baking. Ground poppy seeds are a common thickening agent in spice pastes in Moghul cuisine. In Europe, poppy seeds are a common ingredient in croissants and in strudel, an Austrian dessert. Sprinkling poppy seeds on bread and rolls before baking adds energy and a nutty flavour. Poppy seed oil is widely used in salads and cooking oil in Iran.
Nutrition: 100 gm of poppy seeds contain 523 calorie with 18 gm of protein, 45 gm of fat and 24 gm of carbohydrate. The seeds are rich in calcium, iron, phosphorus and dietary fibre. They also contain B vitamins, thiamine and riboflavin. The fat in poppy seeds is rich in essential fatty acids such as linoleic acid that the body must have to maintain health.
Medicinal uses: Ayurveda sees poppy seeds as all-purpose tonic, aphrodisiac and a remedy for diarrhoea. The Iranians use poppy seeds to treat nosebleeds and boils. In Algeria, folk healers stuff poppy seeds into tooth cavities, and the Lebanese too use them as medicine.
RAJIV M.
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