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OPIUM - Notes

Types of Opium (by origin/variety)

1. Indian Opium

• Dark brown in colour
• Found as cubical pieces weighing ~900 g (for marketing)
• Enclosed in tissue paper; brittle and plastic in nature
• Internally homogenous
• Powdered form available in packs of 5-10 kg

2. Persian Opium

• Dark brown in colour
• Brick-shaped masses, weighing 450 g
• Hygroscopic in nature; granular or nearly smooth with brittle fracture

3. Natural Turkish / European Opium

• Brown or dark brown in colour
• Conical or rounded, somewhat flattened masses; weighing 250-1000 g
• Becomes hard and brittle on keeping
• Covered with poppy leaves

4. Manipulated Turkish Opium

• Chocolate brown or dark brown internally
• Covered with broken poppy leaves externally
• Oval and flattened on upper and lower surfaces; ~2000 g
• Somewhat plastic or brittle

5. Manipulated European Opium

• Internally dark brown; covered with broken leaves
• Elongated masses with rounded ends; 150-500 g
• Firm, plastic, with brittle fracture

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Cultivation and Collection

Legal Framework

• Cultivation in India is controlled by the Government under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substance Act, 1985
• Confined to U.P., M.P., and Rajasthan
• Area divided into 12 opium divisions
• Licensed cultivators sow the poppy, lance the capsule, collect latex, and deliver it to weighing centers at government-fixed prices

Soil and Climate

• Grows in almost all soils; prefers sandy loam
• Cannot endure extreme cold
• Cloudy/rainy weather, hailstorms, winds, and frost are destructive
• Cultivated as a rabi crop (sown in winter, harvested in spring)
• Often follows maize or other Kharif (monsoon/autumn) crops

Propagation

• Done by seeds; seeds mixed with earth or ashes
• Sown by broadcast method in October-November at 3.5 kg/ha
• Land prepared in September by repeated ploughing and harrowing (fine tilth)
• Frequent light irrigation needed until seedlings are established

Manure and Fertilizer

• Superphosphate applied in 2 stages: during ploughing and during cultivation - has pronounced effect on opium yield
• Nitrogenous feed during the later growing period increases both opium yield and morphine content

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Harvesting

• Plant flowers 75-80 days after germination
• Petals fall off 24-72 hours after bud opening
• Capsules take another 8-10 days to become fully swollen - then ready for lancing/scarification
• Collection period: end of January to April

Lancing Process

• Field divided into 3 portions; each portion scarified every 3rd day
• Each capsule lanced 3-4 times, sometimes up to 8-10 times, until no more latex exudes
• In India, incisions made vertically from below upward using a special knife called nushtur (3-4 small blades for uniform depth)
• Incisions may be repeated after 2-3 days
• Lancing done after midday; latex left on capsule overnight - it coagulates and becomes thicker and slightly darker
• Latex colour varies: milky white → smoky white → pale pink → bright pink
• Next morning (before sunrise), coagulated latex (raw opium) collected using a blunt-edged small iron scoop
• Capsules cleaned by rubbing with the thumb

Storage of Raw Opium

• Each day's produce stored separately in earthen or metal pots (tilted or with hole at bottom to drain moisture)
• Turned over by hand every 10 days for uniform consistency
• Dried in sun in earthen plates
• First lancing product has higher morphine % - stored and delivered separately
• Tested for purity and consistency (consistency = % of solid matter, rest is moisture)
• Stored in double bags: inner canvas, outer jute sacking
• Government-fixed rate opium = Damdeta opium (meaning "opium for which payment has been made")

Yield

• 28-48 g per 1000 capsules
• Average yield: 13-18 kg/ha
• High yields recorded up to 27-56 kg/ha

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Chemical Constituents

Alkaloid Classification

• Alkaloids derived from amino acids phenylalanine and tyrosine
• All opium alkaloids present as salts of meconic acid

Key Alkaloid Properties

Morphine - Additional Notes

• Has phenolic -OH group and alcoholic -OH at C-6 position
• Diacetyl derivative of morphine = Heroin

Poppy Seeds

• Off-white coloured, minute seeds
• Contain 30-35% drying fixed oil
• Oil: colorless, tasteless, transparent - used commercially in oil paint industry

Minor Constituents

• Minor alkaloids: Protopine and Hydrocotarnine
• Also contains: sugar, wax, mucilage, salts of calcium, potassium, magnesium
• Does NOT contain: tannins, starch, calcium oxalate