Poppy seed

Poppy seed is an

The poppy seed is mentioned in ancient medical text from many civilizations. For instance, the Egyptian papyrus scroll named Ebers Papyrus, written c. 1550 BC, lists poppy seed as a sedative.^[1] The Minoan civilization (approximately 2700 to 1450 BC), a Bronze Age civilization which arose on the island of Crete, cultivated poppies for their seed, and used a milk, opium and honey mixture to calm crying babies. The Sumerians are another civilization that are known to have grown poppy seeds.^[2]

Description

Poppy seeds are less than a millimeter in length, kidney-shaped, and have a pitted surface.^[3] It takes about 3,300 poppy seeds to make up a gram, and between 1 and 2 million seeds to make up a pound.^[2] The primary flavor compound is 2-pentylfuran.^[4]

The seeds are cultivated for the flowers they produce. Annual and biennial poppies are used to cultivate from seed as they are not difficult to

that grows in the Western and Northwestern United States.

Production

Poppy seed production (tonnes)
Country	2018	2014–2018 average
Turkey	26,991	21,479
Czech Republic	13,666	22,739
Spain	12,360	11,812
France	4,514	5,467
Hungary	3,800	6,047
Source: FAOSTAT of the United Nations[6]

In 2018, world production of poppy seeds was 76,240 tonnes, led by Turkey with 35% of the world total, followed by the Czech Republic and Spain as other major producers (table).^[6]

The poppy seeds harvest can be a

Since poppy seeds are relatively expensive, they are sometimes mixed with the seeds of Amaranthus paniculatus, which closely resemble poppy seeds.^[8]

Nutrition

Poppy seed

Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy	2,196 kJ (525 kcal)
Carbohydrates	28.13 g
Sugars	2.99 g
Dietary fiber	19.5 g
Fat	41.56 g
Saturated	4.517 g
Monounsaturated	5.982 g
Polyunsaturated	28.569 g
Protein	21.22 g
Niacin (B3)	6% 0.896 mg
Pantothenic acid (B5)	0% 0 mg
Vitamin B6	15% 0.247 mg
Folate (B9)	21% 82 μg
Choline	9% 52.1 mg
Vitamin C	1% 1 mg
Vitamin E	12% 1.77 mg
Vitamin K	0% 0.0 μg
Copper	0% 0 mg
Iron	54% 9.76 mg
Magnesium	83% 347 mg
Manganese	99% 2.285 mg
Phosphorus	70% 870 mg
Potassium	24% 719 mg
Selenium	0% 0 μg
Sodium	1% 26 mg
Zinc	64% 7.0 mg
Other constituents	Quantity
Water	5.95 g
Link to USDA Database entry
†Percentages estimated using US recommendations for adults,[9] except for potassium, which is estimated based on expert recommendation from the National Academies.[10]

In a 100 gram amount, poppy seeds provide 525

.

Paste

Poppy seeds can be ground using a generic tool such as a

burr grinder

with a set aperture that is too narrow for intact poppy seeds to pass through. A burr grinder produces a more uniform and less oily paste than these other tools.

The

poppy seed paste is used for fillings in pastries, sometimes mixed with butter or milk and sugar. The ground filling is used in poppy seed rolls and some croissants and may be flavored with lemon or orange zest, rum and vanilla

with raisins, heavy cream, cinnamon, and chopped blanched almonds or walnuts added. For sweet baked goods, sometimes instead of sugar a tablespoon of jam, or other sweet binding agent, like syrup is substituted. The poppy seed for fillings are best when they are finely and freshly ground because this will make a big difference in the pastry filling's texture and taste.

Poppy seed paste is available commercially, in cans. Poppy seeds are very high in oil, so commercial pastes normally contain sugar, water, and an emulsifier such as

soy lecithin

to keep the paste from separating. Commercial pastes also contain food preservatives to keep them from becoming rancid.

In the United States, commercial pastes are marketed under brand names including Solo and American Almond. Per 30 gram serving, the American Almond poppy seed paste has 120 calories, 4.5 grams fat, and 2 grams protein.

Oil

Poppy seeds are pressed to form poppyseed oil, a valuable commercial oil that has multiple culinary and industrial uses.

Other uses

Poppy seeds are often used as bird seed, in which case they are usually called maw seeds.^[12]

Use by cuisine

See also: List of poppy seed pastries and dishes

Poppy seeds are used around the world in various cuisines.

European cuisine

See also:

Poppy seed filling

Mohnstollen

makowiec, Slovak makovník, a nut roll

filled with poppy seed paste

Across Europe,

kołacz

). The seeds of the Czech blue poppy (food safety cultivars Papaver somniferum) 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. Milling of mature seeds is carried out either industrially or at home, where it is generally done with a manual poppy seed mill.

Blue poppy seeds are widely used in Austrian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, German, Hungarian, Lithuanian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Turkish and Ukrainian cuisines.

The states of former Yugoslavia (notably North Macedonia and Serbia, but also Croatia and Bosnia) have a long tradition of preparing poppy seed pastry (štrudla, baklava, pajgle) and dishes (pasta with poppy seeds). In Slovenia blue poppy seeds are used in traditional dishes such as prekmurska gibanica and makova potica.

In Poland, Hungary, Lithuania and Eastern Slovakia, a traditional dessert is prepared for the Christmas Eve dinner from poppy seeds. They are ground and mixed with water or milk; round yeast biscuits (kūčiukai in Lithuanian; opekance or bobalky in Slovak) are soaked in the resulting poppy seed 'milk' (poppy milk) and served cold.

In Central Europe, poppy strudel is very popular, especially during Christmas. In Germany, Poland and countries belonging to the former Austro-Hungarian Empire, poppy seed pastries called Mohnkuchen are often eaten around Christmas time.^[13] Recipes for Mohnstriezel use poppy seed soaked in water for two hours^[14] or boiled in milk. A recipe for Ukrainian poppyseed cake recommends preparing the seeds by immersing in boiling water, straining and soaking in milk overnight.^[15]

Jewish cuisine

In Eastern European

In

Allergy (type 1 hypersensitivity) to poppy seeds is rare, but has been reported^[17][18] and can cause anaphylaxis.^[18]

False positive drug tests

Although the drug

The sale of poppy seeds from Papaver somniferum is banned in Singapore because of the morphine content. Poppy seeds are also prohibited in Taiwan, primarily because of the risk that viable seeds will be sold and used to grow opium poppies.^[21]

China prohibits spice mixes made from poppy seed and poppy seed pods because of the traces of opiates in them, and has since at least 2005.^[22][23]

Despite its present use in Arab cuisine as a bread spice, poppy seeds are also banned in Saudi Arabia for various religious^{[citation needed]} and drug control reasons.^[24] In one extreme case in the United Arab Emirates, poppy seeds found on a traveler's clothes led to imprisonment.^[25][26] Concerns were raised in Malaysia by MP Datuk Mohd Said Yusof who claimed in 2005 that mamak restaurants used poppy seeds in their cooking to get customers addicted to it.^[27]

It is illegal to grow opium-bearing cultivars of Papaver genus in Russia, although selling poppy seeds is not restricted in most regions.^{[citation needed]}

International travelers

As poppy seeds cause false positive results in drug tests, it is advised in airports in India not to carry such items to other countries, where this can result in punishments based on false positive results. Travelers to the United Arab Emirates are especially prone to difficulties and severe punishments.^[28][29]

In Singapore, poppy seeds are classified as "prohibited goods" by the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB).^[30]

Gallery

• 
  Dried poppy seed pods next to glass jars of blue, gray, and white poppy seeds used for pastries in Germany
• 
  Macro photograph of poppy seeds
• 
  White poppy seeds, close up
• 
  Czech blue poppy seeds (as food)
• 
  A cut green seed pod with fresh latex
• 
  Electron micrograph of a poppy seed
• 
  Energy-dispersive X-ray analysis showing high content of calcium and other mineral elements in the seed

See also

• List of poppy seed pastries and dishes

References