poppy, popular name – machok.
The poppy family is Papaveraceae.
For therapeutic purposes, poppy petals are used.
It occurs as a weed plant almost throughout Ukraine (it is absent in the Carpathians), mainly on the Right Bank – in the forest-steppe and steppe regions, where it can clog grain crops on tens and hundreds of hectares. It is also found on roadsides, the outskirts of forest belts, sometimes in gardens and orchards.
Stocks of raw materials are large, but due to the increase in the culture of agriculture, they are decreasing. Industrial blanks are possible in Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil, Khmelnitsky, Vinnitsa, Odessa, Kirovohrad, Mykolaiv regions.
Poppy self-seed – Peduncles bearing buds, bent, erect during flowering. Calyx of 2 leaflets, disappears when the corolla is opened. Petals four, with a black spot at the base. Stamens numerous. Pistil one with sessile 8-20-ray stigma. The leaves are alternate, pubescent, pinnately dissected into sharply toothed lobes. The apical lobes are longer than the lateral ones. The fruit is a round or obovate capsule with holes under the stigma, on a well-marked stalk. Seeds numerous, small. Blooms in May-June. The fruits ripen in July-August.
The petals are harvested during flowering, picking off with hands and loosely folding them into baskets.
Dry them without delay under canopies with good ventilation, laying out a thin layer (1-2 cm) on paper or cloth. Do not dry in the sun, as the raw material becomes discolored. The yield of dry raw materials is 10-12%.
The raw material is exported and, according to the requirements of foreign firms, the petals must have a red-violet color, a specific smell and taste. Humidity is not higher than 11%. Not more than (percent) is allowed in raw materials: faded, darkened and stuck together petals – 7, crushed and broken petals – 1.5, organic impurities – 1.5, mineral impurities – 0.5.
Dry petals are packed in bags of the same weight. Store in dry, well-ventilated areas on pallets or racks.
Petals contain gums, dyes, organic acids. Used for coughs.