Poppy Plants Medicinal
Poppy seeds contain a large percentage of oil, rich in phosphorus and lecithin, much like sunflower oil, edible, although little used in food, despite its ability to reduce cholesterol in the blood.
Opium and poppy are two plants of the family of poppies, characterized by their capacity for synthesis of various alkaloids in the poppy predominates, the Poppy has identified more than 20, mixed in juice white, the opium.
Characteristics of the poppy as a medicinal plant
Herbaceous plant that lives just over a year, the high is up to 2 m. The stems, holes develop the flower on the end, with white or pink petals, very large. The fruit is a hard capsule, like a small grenade that contains the seeds. The leaves are broad and serrated edges which are very numerous, arise directly from the stem, holding him, without petiole.
Active ingredients of the poppy
The capsule contains a milky juice (latex) that is the opium. It consists of various alkaloids, morphine and is found in greater numbers. The seeds inside the capsules contain a high concentration of oil, called oil of poppies, which is extracted for industrial use and rarely would feed. When the flower begins to wilt and the capsule form, the alkaloids are synthesized quickly to go slowly disappearing, the reverse of what happens to oil seeds, whose concentration is always increasing.
Medicinal properties of opium
Opium contains more than 20 alkaloids, many of which are narcotics. Their action on the body varies with the dose: first acts as cardiac and cerebral stimulant, but with increasing dose drowsy and reduces muscle activity, at higher doses lowered heart rate and lung.
Applications and use of opium as a home remedy
Today the poppy is cultivated in most countries, under government control, and its use is restricted to the pharmaceutical industry. Its main use is as an analgesic and a narcotic. Some alkaloids such as codeine, have antitussive activity.