Witnessed by: TCM · Ayurveda · Western · Unani
Opium poppy (Papaver somniferum), of the Papaveraceae family. Glaucous erect annual with large solitary four-petalled flowers and a rounded capsule; native range: Western Mediterranean and Asia Minor; cultivated from Neolithic times and now grown, under licence, across the temperate and subtropical world. Globally recognized as ahiphena (opium) · khaskhasa (seed) in Sanskrit, afim (opium) · post / khaskhas (seed/capsule) in Hindi, ying su qiao (罂粟壳, the husk) in Chinese, afyun (أفيون, opium) · khashkhash (خشخاش, poppy) in Arabic, and opium poppy · breadseed poppy · mawseed in English. The part used is dried latex of the unripe capsule (opium); the ripe capsule/husk; the ripe seed (non-narcotic). Blue-green stem and leaf, papery petals of white to lilac; the scored green pod weeps a white latex that browns and turns bitter and acrid as it dries; the ripe seeds are tiny, oily, nutty and free of narcotic.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
OPIUM POPPY
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Opium poppy
- Scientific name
- Papaver somniferum L.
- Family
- Papaveraceae
Form
- Part used
- dried latex of the unripe capsule (opium); the ripe capsule/husk; the ripe seed (non-narcotic)
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- sour · astringent
- Ayurveda
- opium (ahiphena): bitter (tikta) · astringent (kashaya) · seed (khaskhasa): sweet (madhura)
- Western
- bitter · acrid
- Unani
- bitter
Temperature
- TCM
- neutral (the husk) — yet the drug's action is fiercely narcotic while its nature is reckoned mild
- Ayurveda
- heating (ushna — ahiphena; the seed khaskhasa is cooling)
- Western
- cool (Galenic tradition holds opium cold in the extreme, though it warms in first action)
- Unani
- cold & dry (3rd–4th degree)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- TCM
- Lung · Large Intestine · Kidney
- Western
- nervous system · lungs · bowels
- Unani
- brain · nerves · lungs
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- astringes the Lung and Intestines, binds up leakage, stops chronic cough and diarrhoea, and stops pain
- Ayurveda
- grahi (astringent, antidiarrhoeal), vedanasthapana (analgesic), nidrajanana (hypnotic) and shwasahara — the seed (khaskhasa) is a sweet, cooling, nourishing balya
- Western
- anodyne, hypnotic, narcotic, sedative, antispasmodic, antitussive and antidiarrhoeal — the type-drug of the whole class
- Unani
- muskin (narcotic), munawwim (hypnotic), musakkin-e-alam (analgesic), habis (astringent) — a chief cold sedative and pain-stiller
Cautions
Contraindications: acute cough or diarrhoea, damp-heat and food-stagnation conditions; respiratory depression, asthma, head injury; pregnancy, lactation and the very young and old; any history of dependence. Opium and its alkaloids are scheduled controlled substances — supply and use are restricted by law.
Toxicity: a potent and dangerous narcotic: overdose brings pinpoint pupils, stupor, cold clammy skin and fatal respiratory depression; repeated use produces tolerance and addiction. Even the husk (ying su qiao) is toxic and habit-forming and is never for casual self-medication. The ripe seed alone is safe as food, though it may register on opiate drug-screens.
Sourcing status: legally-restricted
Interactions
- Western
- sedatives / CNS depressants: additive central and respiratory depression — potentially fatal, especially with alcohol or benzodiazepines · MAO inhibitors: severe, sometimes fatal reaction with opioids (excitation or profound depression, hyperpyrexia) · anticholinergics: additive constipation and risk of paralytic ileus and urinary retention
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