Poppy seeds: implications of consumption

Area of Science:

• Forensic Toxicology
• Pharmacology
• Food Science

Background:

• Poppy seeds (Papaver somniferum L.) are a common food ingredient.
• Opioid drug screening often relies on detecting morphine and codeine metabolites.
• The presence of these alkaloids in poppy seeds can lead to false positives in drug tests.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify morphine and codeine content in white poppy seeds.
• To assess the effect of washing on alkaloid levels.
• To determine urinary alkaloid levels after consuming poppy seed-containing meals.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of total morphine and codeine in poppy seed samples.
• Quantification of alkaloid removal by water soaking.
• Measurement of urinary morphine and codeine levels post-ingestion of meals with washed poppy seeds.

Main Results:

• White poppy seeds contained 58.4–62.2 µg/g total morphine and 28.4–54.1 µg/g total codeine.
• Washing seeds removed approximately 45.6% of free morphine and 48.4% of free codeine.
• Ingestion of meals with washed seeds resulted in urinary morphine levels of 0.12–1.27 µg/ml and codeine levels of 0.04–0.73 µg/ml.

Conclusions:

• Poppy seed consumption can lead to detectable urinary morphine and codeine levels.
• Washing poppy seeds reduces, but does not eliminate, alkaloid content.
• Forensic screening for opiate abuse must consider poppy seed ingestion as a potential source of positive results.