Question

Opium or morphine is obtained from latex of unripe fruit of

• A. Papaver somniferum
• B. Coffea arabica
• C. Camellia sinensis
• D. Oryza sativa

Answer 1

The correct option is A Papaver somniferum

Opium is the dried latex obtained from the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum). Opium latex contains approximately 12% of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, which is processed chemically to produce heroin and other synthetic opioids for medicinal use and for the illegal drug trade. The latex also contains the closely related opiates codeine and thebaine and non-analgesic alkaloids, such as papaverine and noscapine. The traditional, labour-intensive, method of obtaining the latex is to scratch the immature seed pods by hand and the latex leaks out and dries to a sticky yellowish residue that is later scraped off, and dehydrated. Thus, the correct answer is option A.