Reduction of Morphine in Poppy Seeds through Food Processing for Enhancing Nutritional Quality of Food Products

Poppy seed is an oilseed obtained from the opium plant (Papaver somniferum). It is one of the oldest known painkillers consisting of many alkaloids (morphine, codeine etc.) and is rich in protein and calcium. The morphine content of poppy seed intended for use in food recently have raised major concern due to intoxication in maximum limits. The federal institute for risk assessment (BFR) derived a provisional guidance value of 4mg morphine/kg body weight poppy seed based on a maximum daily intake of 0.38mg morphine/person. This might have led to a nearly complete market shake out because a great deal of all products had concentration above the limit. To recalibrate this systematic research was done to determine the influence of food processing and the significant reduction of morphine (by steps like grinding and boiling) was observed. Randomly selected poppy seeds sample was taken for its degradation directly for which the optimal treatment consisted of washing, drying and grinding. The alkaloids were analysed by HPLC method. The results revealed that the percentage of the alkaloids i.e., morphine codeine, thebaine and narcotine were 0.178%, 0.038%, 0.041%, 0.002% respectively which were significantly (p<0.5) reduced to 0.046%, 0.009%, 0.002% and 0.001% respectively. Acceptability evaluation showed that incorporated recipes were more acceptable as compared to standard. The level of incorporation acceptable was 2.5% and 5% respectively. Bakery products showed significant reduction (p<0.5) in alkaloids due to grinding and heat treatment done at 200oC. In the current study, the kinetics of the morphine degradation during grinding as well as the efficacy of washing steps was evaluated which was reached to 90%. The results were used to establish guidelines for consumers and bakeries with possibilities to minimize the morphine content of poppy seed.