Poppy Seed

• KINGDOM:  Plantae
• CLADE:  Tracheophytes
• CLADE:  Angiosperms
• CLADE:  Eudicots
• ORDER:  Ranunculales
• FAMILY:  Papaveraceae
• GENUS:  Papaver
• SPECIES:  Papaver somniferum

• English:  poppy seed, poppy seeds
• Spanish:  semilla de amapola
• Portuguese:  semente de papoula
• French:  graine de pavot
• Italian:  seme di papavero
• German:  Mohn, Mohnsamen
• Dutch:  maanzaad
• Czech:  makové semínko
• Hungarian:  mák
• Danish:  birkes
• Norwegian:  valmuefrø
• Swedish:  vallmofrön
• Finnish:  unikonsiemen
• Polish:  mak
• Greek:  spóroi paparounas
• Turkish:  haşhaş tohumu
• Hebrew:  zar’ei pereg
• Arabic:  budhūr al-khushkhāsh, budhur al-khushkhash, buzur al-khushkhash
• Persian:  tokhm-e khashkhāsh
• Russian:  mak
• India 
  • Hindi:  khus khus, khas khas, khashkhash
  • Bengali:  posto, posto dana, khashkhash
  • Gujarati:  khuskhush, khus khus
  • Marathi:  khus khus
  • Telugu:  gasagasalu, gasagasa, kasakasa
  • Kannada:  gasagase
  • Tamil:  kasakasa
  • Malayalam:  kasakasa, kashakasha
  • Sanskrit:  khākhasa, khasa
• Sinhala (Sri Lanka):  popi äta
• Burmese:  bein se, hbein se
• Thai:  malet poppi, met poppi
• Khmer (Cambodia):  kroap aphien
• Vietnamese:  hạt anh túc
• Malay:  biji popi
• Indonesian:  biji poppy, biji popi
• Filipino:  buto ng poppy, buto ng amapola
• China
  • Mandarin:  yīng sù zǐ
  • Cantonese:  aang suk zi
• Korean:  yanggwibi-ssi, yanggwibi ssiat
• Japanese:  keshi no mi
  

Note:  Languages that use only the common English spelling and have no distinct or widely used local name are not listed.

Poppy seeds are the tiny seeds of the opium poppy, Papaver somniferum. They go into breads, cakes, and bagels in the West, and the white seeds, called khus khus in Hindi and posto in Bengali, are ground into pastes and drinks in Indian cooking. Their confusions come from the plant they grow on and from a Hindi name that belongs to two different things.

• Opium (Papaver somniferum)
  • Poppy seeds come from the same plant as opium, but the seeds themselves contain little or no opiates. The trouble is contamination: during harvest, the seed coats can pick up the plant's opium latex, and properly processed seeds are washed to remove it. Seeds sold as "unwashed" or "raw" can carry enough morphine to kill, and tea brewed from them has caused fatal overdoses. Even ordinary bakery seeds can trigger a positive opiate drug test. The US federal cutoff was raised in 1998 to screen out poppy seed foods, but many private and court-ordered tests still use a lower one, so skip poppy seeds before a drug test, and never buy seeds marketed as unwashed.
• Khus (Chrysopogon zizanioides)
  • In Hindi, khus khus means poppy seeds, but khus on its own is vetiver, a fragrant grass whose roots flavor cooling summer sherbets and some spice blends. The two are unrelated, so an Indian recipe that calls for khus khus wants poppy seeds, and one that calls for khus wants vetiver root. And despite the sound, neither has anything to do with couscous.

Source:  USDA FoodData Central: Poppy Seed

Daily Value % based on a 2,000-calorie diet

Poppy seeds have a rather infamous distinction in the spice world: they come from the same opium plant that produces powerful narcotics. This gives them quite the reputation, even tales of failed drug tests due to eating too many poppy seed bagels. However, the seeds themselves have a more innocent chemical makeup, containing only trace amounts of those alkaloids. What they are rich in is oil. Much of their mild, nutty character comes from that oil and the aroma compounds it gives rise to:

Aromatic Compounds 

• Hexanal and 1-Hexanol
  • Two of the main volatiles found in poppy seeds and their oil. They contribute fresh notes.
  • Green, grassy, and fresh.
• Caproic Acid (Hexanoic Acid)
  • Often one of the most abundant compounds, it contributes a fatty note beneath the seed's nuttiness.
  • Fatty, waxy, and faintly cheesy.
• 2-Pentylfuran
  • This compound bridges poppy seeds' green and nutty sides.
  • Green, earthy, and lightly nutty.
• Pyrazines
  • Poppy seeds contain small amounts of nutty-smelling pyrazines, and toasting produces more of them. They are a major reason why toasted poppy seeds taste deeper and more complete than raw seeds.
  • Roasted, nutty, and toasty.
• Other Aromatic Compounds
  • Poppy seeds also have pentanal, limonene, nonanal, and other aldehydes, alcohols, and ketones.

Taste and Mouthfeel Compounds

• Seed Oil
  • Poppy seeds are typically around 35 to 50% oil by weight, dominated by linoleic acid. That oil is the source of their richness and the reason they feel creamy when ground into a paste, as in poppy-seed fillings.
  • Rich, creamy, and nutty.
• Free Fatty Acids and Oxylipins
  • Oxidized fatty acids and related lipid compounds are important sources of poppy seed's mild bitterness. Their levels rise as the oil ages and oxidizes, which is why old seeds can taste noticeably more bitter.
  • Faintly bitter.
• Alkaloids
  • Morphine, codeine, and thebaine occur in trace amounts, picked up from the plant's latex during harvesting rather than produced by the seed itself. They add little to flavor beyond a hint of bitterness in raw seeds, and the levels are far too low to have any narcotic effect.
  • Faintly bitter.

Understanding Composition

• Chemical composition can vary widely, mainly in the concentrations of certain compounds. This variation causes differences in quality, which is why the best spices and herbs are often graded by the levels of key compounds that drive flavor, aroma, and color.
• Quality is affected by variety, age and freshness, region and terroir, environmental stressors, and potential adulteration. It's then further influenced by how the plant is handled at every stage: cultivation, harvesting, processing (drying, curing), shipping, storage, and preparation (grinding, grating, infusing, toasting). A magnificent spice or herb is a celebration of an immense journey, shaped by nature, the people who produce it, and the cook who delivers it to a dish.

• Cultural and Spiritual Significance
  • Christmas Eve:  Across Central and Eastern Europe, poppy seeds are a fixture of the Christmas Eve supper because they symbolize abundance and prosperity. In Poland, the meal ends with makowiec, a poppy seed roll, and in Ukraine, Lithuania, and eastern Poland, families eat kutia, a sweet dish of wheat, poppy seeds, and honey. In Ukraine, kutia is one of the two essential ritual dishes of the evening.
• Pharmaceuticals
  • The opium poppy is also the source of morphine and codeine, which come from the latex in its seed pods, not from the seeds themselves. The seeds can pick up traces during harvest, though: unwashed poppy seeds have caused positive drug tests, and tea brewed from large amounts of them has caused fatal overdoses.
• Skincare
  • Poppy seed oil makes various appearances in skincare products, where it's used to soften the skin, and whole poppy seeds are used as an exfoliant in scrubs.
• Artists' Oil Paint
  • Poppy seed oil has been used in artists’ oil paints for centuries. It dries more slowly than linseed oil but yellows less, so painters favor it for whites and pale blues.

• Sesame Seeds
  • These seeds provide a comparable nutty flavor and crunchy texture, though they are slightly larger and have a more pronounced toasted flavor. Toasted sesame seeds can be used as a 1:1 substitute for poppy seeds in most recipes, and black sesame seeds come closest in looks.
• Chia Seeds
  • While lacking the nutty flavor of poppy seeds, chia seeds offer a similar subtle crunch and can be used as a substitute in baked goods and sprinkled on top of dishes. Use an equal amount, keeping in mind that chia absorbs liquid and turns gel-like in wet batters and fillings.
• Hemp Seeds
  • These seeds have a slightly earthy and nutty flavor, though hulled hemp seeds are larger and softer than poppy seeds. Use an equal amount, especially as a topping.
• Nigella
  • These tiny black seeds have a slightly bitter, onion-like flavor and a similar crunchy texture to poppy seeds. They can be used as a substitute in savory dishes like breads, crackers, and curries. Their flavor is stronger, so start with about half as much.
• Ground Walnuts
  • For fillings where poppy seeds are the star, such as poppy seed rolls, no seed can stand in. Ground walnuts make a different but equally traditional filling and can replace the poppy seeds in equal amounts.

Substitution Tips

• Incomplete Substitution:  All spices and herbs are too complex to match exactly, so focus on which aspects of their flavor, aroma, texture, or color you wish to replicate.
• Quantity:  Start with a small amount of the substitute and adjust to taste. It won't be a 1:1 exchange in flavor or potency.
• Context:  Consider the entire dish and how the substitute's full flavor profile will merge with the other ingredients.
• Experimentation:  Playing with substitutions is a great opportunity to explore how different flavors interact. If you approach it with curiosity, you may really enjoy the process and make some delicious discoveries along the way.

Poppy seeds come from the same plant that produces opium, one of the oldest crops in Europe. Seeds were found in Neolithic farming sites in the western Mediterranean from around 5600 BCE. It may very well be the only major crop first domesticated in Europe. Its scientific name, somniferum, translates to “sleep-inducing," and it's not hard to guess why: the compounds morphine and codeine are extracted from sap within the seed pods. So the spice is not without controversy, from the Opium Wars of the 19th century to the modern opioid crisis. Culinary poppy seeds contain only traces of these alkaloids, although in large enough quantities they can trigger a positive drug test. Some countries, including Singapore and the UAE, still restrict their import.

Historically, opium itself was treasured for its medicinal and mind-altering effects, while its tiny little seeds were cherished for their nutty flavor and delightful crunch. On Minoan Crete, a famous clay figurine known as the Poppy Goddess even wears poppy capsules in her hair.

In Greece, poppies were associated with Demeter, the goddess of agriculture and fertility. Homer also referred to the opium poppy in the Iliad, comparing a dying warrior's drooping head to a poppy weighed down by its seeds and spring rain. The seeds were also a common ingredient in bread and cakes, a tradition that continued into the Roman Empire. The Roman poet Virgil mentioned poppies in his work "Georgics," describing them as "steeped in Lethe's sleep."

From the Middle Ages through the Renaissance, poppy seeds continued to be a popular ingredient in breads, pastries, and desserts. Particularly in Central and Eastern Europe, they became a staple in the cuisines of Hungary, Poland, and Austria. They were ground into a paste and mixed with sugar or honey to fill cakes, strudels, and dumplings, a practice that continues to this day.

European settlers brought poppy seeds to the Americas, where they were used in traditional recipes from their homelands, and they eventually became a common ingredient in American breads, muffins, cakes, and cookies. Poppy seed dressing, a sweet and tangy salad dressing, became popular in the 20th century.

The ancient tradition of using poppy seeds in baking continues strongly to this day. So the next time you taste a lemon poppy seed muffin or a poppy seed bagel, picture the ancient Greeks and Romans doing the exact same thing. Spices really do connect us with ages past.