Poppy - Useful Properties And Application Of Poppy, Seeds, Growing Poppy, Calorie Content Of Poppy

2024 Author: Josephine Shorter | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 21:43

Poppy

Useful properties and uses of poppy

Poppy description

Poppy is a unique plant that everyone is probably familiar with. It can be annual, or it can grow over many years.

Most often, the poppy stem is highly developed. There are also plants without a stem, but this happens much less often. It stretches in height by 80-150 cm. The leaf plate is cut into two or three sections. It happens that poppy leaves are bare, but they are usually covered with fine hairs. The roots of the plant are fragile, so the poppy is extremely difficult to transfer to the transplant. If it needs to be transplanted, then this is best done in late summer or early spring.

Poppy flowers are unusually beautiful. They are large in size, attached to long peduncles. The four bright and silky petals are colored red, white, pale yellow or even black. Some types of poppy have inflorescences in the form of panicles. But mostly, the flowers grow alone. The plant has countless stamens. Poppy can reproduce on its own through self-pollination. In some species, insects participate in reproduction.

The poppy fruit is a capsule. It is ovoid and oblong in shape. There are small seeds inside the small "chest". After ripening, the capsule bursts, the seeds are thrown out and scattered over long distances. They can also flutter in the wind from the holes of the fruit.

Useful properties of poppy

Poppy seeds contain about 46-56% oils and about 20% protein. The beneficial properties of this plant have been used since ancient times. All parts of the poppy were used. It had a hypnotic effect, was an excellent pain reliever. To improve digestion, decoctions of poppy seeds and its roots were used.

The juice obtained from the seeds has been used as a pain reliever. Doctors prepared special sleeping pills to relieve fatigue. And to speed up recovery, children were given poppy milk. Poppy leaves have a tonic effect.

Poppy application

Preparations made with the inclusion of poppy components have an expectorant and enveloping effect. They are also known as hemostatic, diaphoretic.

Poppy petals can be infused. You can prepare the infusion at home. It is necessary to pour 600 ml of boiling water over 1 tablespoon of petals. After the mixture has boiled for 10 minutes, strain it. The result is a liquid for the treatment of bronchitis, laryngitis. It also helps with tachycardia and insomnia. You need to drink this remedy 4 times a day, a quarter of a glass at a time.

A unique decoction of poppy heads is used for severe cough and pain in the abdomen. To prepare the medicine, you need to take 1 teaspoon of the boxes, pour 500 ml of boiling water over them. Then you should boil them for 10 minutes, then strain. Drink in the same way as the decoction of the petals, four times a day.

It has been experimentally confirmed that the healing poppy extracts, when added to them with alcohol, manifest themselves as antitumor agents. Small poppy seeds are used in the treatment of cancer. Currently, the components of poppy are actively used in medicine. From opium, morphine, narcotine and codeine are obtained. These substances are found in many pain relievers, hypnotics, and seizure medications.

Papaverine, also derived from opium, is used in medicines for bronchial asthma, hypertension, stomach diseases and many others. Codeine pills are excellent at fighting coughs.

Morphine is a narcotic analgesic, a universal pain reliever. It is used for operations and during a difficult postoperative period during severe pain. With frequent use of morphine, an addiction to it develops. This process is accompanied by various mental disorders and pathological changes in the structure of internal organs.

Poppy seeds

Everyone knows that poppy seeds are widely used in cooking. They are used for delicious filling of various buns, pies, rolls. Oil is also made from the seeds, which is later used in the production of margarine. This delicious poppy is also used in pharmaceuticals, it is suitable for diluting paints and making soaps.

Poppy seeds can also be used as a facial treatment. By rubbing them, you can get milk. And it is this milk that is an effective remedy for combating bruises and circles under the eyes, perfectly relieves inflammation of the eyelids. Interestingly, it can be used not only for skin, but also for food. Vegetarians consume milk obtained from poppy seeds, as it is rich in proteins.

Growing poppy

There will be no problems with growing the most beautiful medicinal plant. Poppy is very undemanding to soil conditions or moisture content. However, it is worth sowing the plant in dry soils and preferably outdoors. Annual poppies grow well without the addition of fertilizers. But perennial plants before the onset of cold weather can be fertilized with garden compost. Planting is best done in the spring or on the eve of winter in a permanent place. Seedlings must be equalized, leaving a distance of about 100 cm between the shoots.

By the beginning of summer, such a wonderful poppy acquires lush greenery, the bush begins to split, leaving a void in the middle. To prevent this, you need to support the bush by sticking a branch into the ground or imperceptibly tying the plant. During flowering, you can admire the most beautiful bright flowers. But after the plant has faded, its leaves wither and begin to turn yellow. You need to cut off the stem with the leaves attached to it at the very base. Then, by the end of summer, new leaves appear. But they no longer reach the same height as during the first flowering.

If you plan to multiply the poppy using seeds, you need to leave the poppy heads for their further ripening. In the garden, flowering poppies look great both in union with each other and among other flowers and plants. It is worth noting that poppies are poorly suited for cutting. If you still need to put them in a vase, you should do it early in the morning, before the buds open.

Calorie poppy

Poppy contains a huge number of useful components. These are vitamins, fatty oils, micro- and macroelements. The energy value of the plant reaches 556 kcal per 100 g of seeds. Most of all fat in the product is about 77%. It is no coincidence that products with the addition of poppy seeds perfectly satisfy hunger and can become a substitute for protein foods for vegetarians.

Given the great taste of poppy seeds, you can safely add them to culinary products.

Poppy leaves

The miraculous poppy leaves are used for fever as a powerful tonic and for bronchitis as a sedative. Medicines with their addition help with inflammation of the bladder and diarrhea. These funds also help in the fight against sweating. They are also used as an external pain reliever. You can also rub warts with poppy leaves.

Poppy powder

Powder obtained from poppy seeds is sprinkled on wounds to quickly stop bleeding. In the medicine of Tibet and Mongolia, the powder obtained from the flowers is used in the treatment of headaches. It is used as an antipyretic and drug used for fractures of the skull bones and seizures. It also has antihypertensive properties, and is known as an excellent remedy for combating inflammation.

This unusual powder can be consumed three times a day, pinch at a time. There is another recipe for using the powder in food. You need to grind the seeds, add water and drink half a glass 4 times a day.

Poppy contraindications

It is not recommended to use poppy seeds for small children under 2 years old and for the elderly. When using the plant as a sleeping pill, you should consult a specialist. You should not eat foods containing poppy seeds for individual intolerance.

The author of the article: Kuzmina Vera Valerievna | Endocrinologist, nutritionist

Education: Diploma of the Russian State Medical University named after NI Pirogov with a degree in General Medicine (2004). Residency at Moscow State University of Medicine and Dentistry, diploma in Endocrinology (2006).