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Poppy straw (also mowed opium straw, crushed poppy capsule, poppy chaff, poppy husk) is derived from opium poppy (''Papaver somniferum.L'') that is harvested when fully mature and dry by mechanical means, minus the ripe poppy seeds. Opium Poppy straw today can be one of several different things. What is left after the poppy seed harvest, so the dried stalks, stem and leaves of poppies grown for their seeds.The dried leaves and stalk harvested after the seed pod has been used for traditional opium extraction.The field dried leaves, stalk and seed pod used in commercial manufacture of morphine or other poppy alkaloid derived drugs, by first processing the material to make poppy straw separating the seeds then making concentrate of poppy straw, where no extraction using traditional methods of latex extraction has been made. The straw was originally considered an agricultural by-product of the mechanised poppy seed harvest, which was primarily grown for its edible and oil-producing seed. This changed in 1927 when János Kabay developed a chemical process to extract morphine from the crushed capsule.Concentrated poppy straw consisting mainly of the crushed capsule without the seeds〔 soon became a valuable source of morphine. Today, concentrate of poppy straw is a major source of many opiates and other alkaloids It is the source of 90% of the world supply of legal morphine (for medical and scientific use)〔 and in some countries it also is a source of illegal morphine, which could be processed into illegal heroin.〔 The 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs defines poppy straw as "all parts (except the seeds) of the opium poppy, after mowing".〔 Decorative Dried Flower producer/growers and wholesalers,〔http://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/Plant-science/RHS-Herbarium/Collections/Images〕 hand pick the decorative mature seeded pods/heads with or without the stalks for use as floral decorations for visual gratification in arrangements. These are then mechanically dried at high temperatures in large kilns to render insects dead and the seeds unviable so that the harvest consists almost entirely of the dried flowered seeded pods/heads (for ease of transport, artificial stems are added afterwards, e.g. bird seed wreath making, floral arrangements and wedding boutonnières or arts/craft projects). The seeds used for this market are especially chosen for the size and shape of the mature poppy seed pod/head not alkaloid content. Many varieties, strains, and cultivars of ''Papaver somniferum'' are in existence, and the alkaloid content can vary significantly. ==Harvesting== Traditional harvesting of opium poppies to produce opiates involved the labor-intensive work of making shallow cuts in the immature fruits (seed pods) so that the latex would leak out and dry, then returning the following day to scrape off the dry latex, known as raw opium. Harvesting of poppy straw is an alternative, largely mechanized method. The plants are allowed to mature fully, then a machine is used to harvest the entire field. The ripe poppy seeds are separated out by threshing and winnowing, and the remainder is poppy straw. Poppy straw usually consists of only the above ground parts of the plant, but the roots may be harvested as well. Some producers mow the plants high, so that the harvest consists almost entirely of the fruits (seed pods), omitting the stalks, leaves, and roots. Poppy straw is then processed in a manner similar to opium to extract opiates and other alkaloids (see Morphine). Avoiding the labor-intensive harvesting of opium by hand was the topic of research for almost 100 years. This research was of notable interest in those countries where opium poppy was an important oilseed crop but due to high labor costs the harvesting of opium was not economic. What was needed was a process that enabled commercial extraction of opiates from opium poppies directly rather than from (comparatively pure) opium. By the 1940s, commercial production of morphine from poppy straw had spread from Hungary to Poland and finally most countries where poppies are grown on a large scale primarily for their seeds. By 1950, about 10% of the poppy seed harvest of those countries was also yielding morphine. Based on average yields and the reported production of poppy seed in 9 European countries, the potential production of morphine from those crops was estimated to be . However, in 1950 the actual production of morphine from poppy straw was reported to be . As of 1950, the average annual yield per hectare was estimated to be poppy seed and poppy straw (dry capsule chaff), which in turn was estimated to yield about of morphine (in good years).〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Poppy straw」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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