Opium poppy seeds are a healthy food

Opium poppy seeds are a healthy food

Bake with the seeds of the opium poppy

The seeds of the opium poppy - available in whole or ground form in the supermarket as baked or blue poppy - also contain a small amount of opiates, but are not suitable for the manufacture of drugs. Instead, the nutty and very oily ones can be used for baking and cooking: poppy seed rolls, bread with poppy seeds, poppy seed cakes and yeast dumplings with poppy seeds - traditional and modern cuisine offers a multitude of tried and tested and delicious recipes.

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Poppy seeds are low in opiates

There is also no risk of getting high or becoming addicted - after all, the opiate content in the seeds is simply too low for that. However, a drug test can still be positive after consuming a poppy seed roll, and the import of foods containing poppy seeds is strictly prohibited in many countries.

Rich in vitamins and trace elements

Opium poppy seeds are one of the foods richest in calcium; the granules also contain many B-group vitamins as well as many important trace elements and minerals. The seeds provide magnesium (347 milligrams per 100 grams of seeds), phosphorus (870 milligrams per 100 grams of seeds), iron, zinc, potassium and sodium. The seeds are also rich in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, which is why they are often pressed into cooking oil.

Buy opium poppies unground if possible

If you want to use the opium poppy seeds for baking, it is best to buy them whole. The granules contain a lot of linoleic acid, which is difficult to hold in ground seeds and then quickly goes rancid. You can easily grind the seeds finely in a coffee or grain grinder if necessary.

Buy and grow opium poppies

You can buy the seeds of the opium poppy under the name blue poppy or back poppy in supermarkets, but also in organic shops, pharmacies, health food stores or on the Internet. In purely theoretical terms, these seeds are even suitable for sowing, provided they are not ground. However, you'd better not do this, because the cultivation of opium poppies falls under the Narcotics Act in Germany and is therefore strictly prohibited. So you are allowed to buy and use the seeds, but you are not allowed to cultivate the plant - violating the law could result in prison sentences of up to five years or heavy fines. In exceptional cases, however, poppy cultivation can be requested from the Federal Opium Agency and permitted.

Tips

If you only want to plant poppies in the garden as an ornamental plant, you can use legal species such as Turkish poppy, golden poppy or corn poppy. However, their seeds are not suitable for consumption.