Corn Poppy

OTHER NAME(S): Amapola, Common Poppy, Copperose, Corn Rose, Cup-Puppy, Field Poppy, Flanders Poppy, Grand Coquelicot, Headache, Headwark, Lalpost, Pavot Coquelicot, Pavot des Moissons, Pavot Rouge, Ponceau, Rakta Khakasa, Rakta Posta, Rakta-Posta, Red Poppy, Rhoeados Flos, Shirley Poppy, Papaver rhoeas, Coquelicot, Amapola de Maíz

Overview

Corn poppy (Papaver rhoeas) is a plant with bright red flowers. The dried flower petals are used in foods in the Mediterranean, and also as medicine.

Corn poppy flower petals contain chemicals that can cause sleepiness. They can also have antioxidant effects. The petals also contain minerals, including potassium, zinc, copper, and iron.

People use corn poppy for cough, insomnia, pain, withdrawal from heroin, morphine, and other opioid drugs, and other purposes, but there is no good scientific evidence to support these uses.

Don't confuse corn poppy with poppy seed or California poppy. These are not the same.

References
  1. Blumenthal M, ed. The Complete German Commission E Monographs: Therapeutic Guide to Herbal Medicines. Trans. S. Klein. Boston, MA: American Botanical Council, 1998.
  2. Gruenwald J, Brendler T, Jaenicke C. PDR for Herbal Medicines. 1st ed. Montvale, NJ: Medical Economics Company, Inc., 1998.
  3. Soulimani, R., Younos, C., Jarmouni-Idrissi, S., Bousta, D., Khalouki, F., and Laila, A. Behavioral and pharmaco-toxicological study of Papaver rhoeas L. in mice. J Ethnopharmacol 3-3-2001;74(3):265-274.
  4. Hillenbrand, M., Zapp, J., and Becker, H. Depsides from the petals of Papaver rhoeas. Planta Med. 2004;70(4):380-382.
  5. Pourmotabbed, A., Rostamian, B., Manouchehri, G., Pirzadeh-Jahromi, G., Sahraei, H., Ghoshooni, H., Zardooz, H., and Kamalnegad, M. Effects of Papaver rhoeas extract on the expression and development of morphine-dependence in mice. J Ethnopharmacol 2004;95(2-3):431-435.
  6. Sahraei, H., Fatemi, S. M., Pashaei-Rad, S., Faghih-Monzavi, Z., Salimi, S. H., and Kamalinegad, M. Effects of Papaver rhoeas extract on the acquisition and expression of morphine-induced conditioned place preference in mice. J Ethnopharmacol 2-20-2006;103(3):420-424.
  7. Sahraei, H., Faghih-Monzavi, Z., Fatemi, S. M., Pashaei-Rad, S., Salimi, S. H., and Kamalinejad, M. Effects of Papaver rhoeas extract on the acquisition and expression of morphine-induced behavioral sensitization in mice. Phytother Res 2006;20(9):737-741.
  8. El Masry, S., El Ghazooly, M. G., Omar, A. A., Khafagy, S. M., and Phillipson, J. D. Alkaloids from Egyptian Papaver rhoeas. Planta Med 1981;41(1):61-64.
  9. Gamboa, P. M., Jauregui, I., Urrutia, I., Gonzalez, G., Barturen, P., and Antepara, I. Allergic contact urticaria from poppy flowers (Papaver rhoeas). Contact Dermatitis 1997;37(3):140-141.
  10. Kati V, Corre VL, Michel S, et al. Isolation and characterisation of 11 polymorphic microsatellite markers in Papaver rhoeas L. (Corn Poppy), a major annual plant species from cultivated areas. Int J Mol Sci. 2012;14(1):470-9.
  11. Günaydin YK, Dündar ZD, Çekmen B, Akilli NB, Köylü R, Cander B. Intoxication due to Papaver rhoeas (Corn Poppy): Five case reports. Case Rep Med. 2015;2015:321360.
  12. Katarzyna J, Karolina J, Patrycja K, Mateusz B, Izabela G. Mineral composition and antioxidant potential in the common poppy (Papaver rhoeas L.) petal infusions. Biol Trace Elem Res. 2021 Jan;199(1):371-81.
  13. Ebrahimpour N, Khazaneha M, Mehrbani M, Rayegan P, Raeiszadeh M. Efficacy of herbal based syrup on male sexual experiences: a double-blind randomized clinical trial. J Tradit Complement Med. 2020 Jan 17;11(2):103-8.