Opium (
poppy tears,
lachryma papaveris) is the dried
latex obtained from the
opium poppy (
Papaver somniferum). Opium latex contains approximately 12% of the analgesic
alkaloid morphine, which is processed chemically to produce
heroin and other synthetic
opioids for medicinal use and for the
illegal drug trade. The latex also contains the closely related
opiates codeine and
thebaine and non-analgesic
alkaloids such as
papaverine and
noscapine. The traditional, labor-intensive method of obtaining the latex is to scratch ("score") the immature seed pods (fruits) by hand; the latex leaks out and dries to a sticky yellowish residue that is later scraped off, and dehydrated. The word "
meconium" (derived from the Greek for "opium-like", but now used to refer to infant stools) historically referred to related, weaker preparations made from other parts of the opium poppy or different species of poppies.