Alkaloid Content of Opium Poppy (Papaver somniferum L.) Plants Sold as Vegetables in Local Markets

This study was carried out to determining the alkaloids content of opium poppies harvested at the rosette periods and sold in local markets of uşak province. poppy alkaloids obtained from dry capsules are important in the pharmaceutical industry. also, the seeds of poppy are very important in human and animal nutrition. it is also used as vegetable in salads in uşak and its vicinity, because of the habit of consuming fresh rosette leaves among the public. plants brought from different villages (hocalar, hatipler, güre, yavu and koyunbeyli) of uşak and sold at the rosette periods in the local markets are used as material in this study. plant height, number of leaves and leaf width were measured on these samples. samples were dried and ground before alkaloid analyzes. alkaloid contents of different parts of plant were determined by hplc with 3 replicates. the morphine, thebaine, noscapine and codeine contents were ranged among (1,1-3,8 mg/gr or 0,11-0,38%); (0,0-0,024 mg/gr or 0-0,0024%); (0-0,036 mg/gr or 0-0,0036%) (0-0,096 mg/gr or 0-0,0096%) respectively. correlation analyzes of the identified features were also performed. according to these results, the morphine content of the samples has been determine as being high. especially high-morphine content cultivars should be careful when consuming fresh.