OPIUM - Notes

Types of Opium (by Origin)

1. Indian Opium

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

2. Persian Opium

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

3. Natural Turkish / European Opium

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

4. Manipulated Turkish Opium

• Chocolate brown / dark brown internally; covered with broken poppy leaves externally
• Oval, flattened masses (upper & lower surface), ~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

Cultivation and Collection

• Controlled by the Government under 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 at government weighing centers at a fixed price

Soil & Climate

• Grows in almost all soils; prefers sandy loam
• Cannot endure extreme cold; hailstorms, frost, and cloudy/rainy weather 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
• Frequent light irrigation until seedlings are established

Manure & Fertilizer

• Superphosphate applied in 2 stages: during ploughing and during cultivation
• Nitrogenous feed in the later growth period increases both opium yield and morphine content

Harvesting

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

Lancing Process

• Field divided into 3 portions - each portion scarified every third day
• Each capsule lanced 3-4 times, sometimes up to 8-10 times until no more latex exudes
• In India, incisions are made vertically, upward using a special knife called nushtur (3-4 small blades for uniform depth)
• Lancing done after midday; latex left overnight to coagulate
• Latex colour: milky white → smoky white → pale pink → bright pink
• Raw opium collected before sunrise using a blunt-edged small iron scoop
• Capsules cleaned by rubbing with the thumb
• Daily produce stored separately in earthen or metal pots (tilted or with hole at bottom to drain moisture)
• Opium turned over by hand every 10 days for uniform consistency

Post-Collection

• Raw opium dried in sun in earthen plates
• First lancing contains higher morphine % than subsequent lancings - stored and delivered separately
• Tested by district opium officers for purity and consistency
• Consistency = percentage of solid matter (rest is moisture)
• Stored in double bags (inner: canvas; outer: jute sacking)
• Government fixed-rate opium = Damdeta opium (opium for which payment has been made)
• Yield: 28-48 g / 1000 capsules; average 13-18 kg/ha; recorded as high as 27-56 kg/ha

Chemical Constituents

Alkaloid Classification

Key Alkaloids

• Monoacidic, levorotatory, phenolic alkaloid
• Has alcoholic -OH group at C-6 position
• Soluble in alkali hydroxides (except ammonium hydroxide)
• Very poorly soluble in ether, chloroform, alcohol, and water
• Diacetyl derivative of morphine = Heroin

• Strong monoacidic base; laevorotatory
• Soluble in water and organic solvents

• Weak monoacidic base; optically inactive
• Slightly soluble in organic solvents; insoluble in water

• Weak monoacidic base; levorotatory (salts are dextrorotatory)
• Soluble in acetone, benzene, chloroform
• Insoluble in water, alcohol, ether

Other Constituents

• Minor alkaloids: Protopine and Hydrocotarnine
• Also contains: sugar, wax, mucilage, salts of calcium, potassium, magnesium
• Alkaloids present as salts of meconic acid
• Does NOT contain: tannins, starch, calcium oxalate
• Poppy seeds: contain 30-35% drying fixed oil - used commercially in oil paint industry (colourless, tasteless, transparent)