Papaver latex

ROBERTS, M.F., MCCARTHY, D KUTCHAN, T.M., COSCIA, C.J., Localization of enzymes and alkaloidal metabolites in Papaver latex. Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 1983,222, 599-609. 

Roberts MF, McCarthay D, Kutchan TM, Coscia CJ (1983) Localization of enzymes and alkaloi-dal metabolites in Papaver latex. Arch Biochem Biophys 222 599-609 Schuchmann R, Wellmann E (1983) Somatic embryogenesis of tissue cultures of Papaver somniferum and Papaver orientate and its relationship to alkaloid and lipid metabolism. Plant Cell Rep 2 88-91... 

Roberts MF, Antoun MD (1978) The relationship between L-DOPA decarboxylase in the latex of Papaver somniferum and alkaloid formation. Ph3rtochemistry 17 1083-1087 Roberts MF, McCarthy D, Kutchan TM, Coscia CJ (1983) Localization of enzyme and alkaloidal metabolites in Papaver latex. Arch Biochem Biophys 222 599-609 Rueffer M, El-Shagi H, Nagakura N, Zenk MH (1981) (S)-Norlaudanosoline synthetase the first enzyme in the benzylisoquinoline biosynthetic pathway. FEBS Lett 129 5-9 Sasse F, Backs-Hiisemann D, Barz W (1979) Isolation and characterization of vacuoles from cell suspension cultures of Daucus carota. Z Naturforsch 34 848-853 Schuchmann R, Wellmann E (1983) Somatic embryogenesis of tissue cultures of Papaver somniferum and Papaver orientate and its relationship to alkaloid and lipid metabolism. Plant Cell Rep 2 88-91... 

The starting material for these 14-hydroxy compounds is the opium alkaloid thebaine (9). Although present in only small amounts in the alkaloid fraction from Papaver somniferum, it constitutes the major component (as much as 26% of the dried latex) from a... 

Morphine (10) and codeine (11), constituents of opium, are the most interesting alkaloids found in nature. Morphine is also the oldest alkaloid isolated, in 1805, by the German pharmacist Sertiimer from opium, the sun dried latex of Papaver somniferum. The structure of morphine with its so-called morphinan skeleton, once called the acrobat under the alkaloids, was finally elucidated in 1952 by the first total synthesis performed by Gates and Tschudi. Many syntheses would follow [26], but all morphine used today, whether legal or illicit, originates in the natural source P. somniferum or its extract, opium. The latex may contain up to 20% morphine. Most legal morphine is converted into the anticough medicine codeine (Table 5.1) by treatment with trimethylanilinium methoxide, whereas almost all illicit morphine is acetylated to the diacetate heroin. 

Morphine is the major alkaloid in opium, the dried latex obtained from the opium poppy, Papaver somniferum. About 25% of the mass of opium is composed of alkaloids, with morphine constituting about 12-15%. Morphine is a powerful analgesic, and remains one of the most valuable for relief of severe pain. However, most of the morphine extracted from opium is processed further to give a range of semi-synthetic drugs, with enhanced or improved properties. A means of extracting morphine from the other alkaloids in opium is thus desirable. 

Codeine (12) and morphine (13), both major active constituents of opium resin, the dried latex from the immature fruits of Papaver som-niferum L., are pharmacologically important drugs as analgesic agents with considerable use today. Like other opiates, morphine and codeine... 

Relief from pain has been an age-old aspiration of humankind. Natural substances— opium alkaloids from the latex of the poppy (Papaver somniferum, the sleep-bringing... 

Opium alkaloids are nonpeptide agonists for the opioid peptide hormone receptors. The dried latex of Papaver somniferum (opium), or the seed capsule of the plant itself, are the sources of almost 25 alkaloids. Some simple isoquinolines from opium, like papaverine (5.86), are antispasmodics. The principal alkaloid ( 10% of the total) is morphine (3.11), which is also an isoquinoline (rings C and E) but can addihonally be considered a phenanthrene derivahve (rings A, B, and C). 

Bulbs and corns are modified underground stems. They are collected when they are fully grown. Bulbs of Allium cepa and Allium sativa are used. Corm of Colchicum autumnale is the source of the drug. Dried seeds provide source of drugs such as Nux vomica and Ignatia. Lycopodium is produced from spores of the plant Lycopodium clavatum, Opium from the latex of the capsules of the poppy plant, Papaver somniferum and Carbo vegetabilis from the charcoal. Whole plants are also used for the preparation of drugs like Aconitum napellus, Calendula officinalis, Chamomilla, Phytolacca decandra (Cook, 1988). 

Papaver somniferum Linn, (flower heads, latex) Papaveraceae Codeine (51) Morphine (51) Narcotine (51) Papaverine (51) Thebaine (51)... 

Varieties of Papaver somniferum with varying content of morphine alkaloids have been studied, and varieties having a genetically governed low alkaloid content have been identified.143 The dynamics of the variation of amount of morphine and codeine present in P. somniferum with time of harvesting of the capsule have been studied.144 The thebaine content of P. bracteatum in relationship to plant development has been studied, and strains have been isolated from which may be obtained a dried latex that contains >55% thebaine, corresponding theoretically to a yield of 58 kg ha-1 or approximately 50 kg ha-1 from harvested capsule.145... 

H. 3 Alkaloids from the Latex of Papaver somniferum Initiate Research I 261... 

Isolation of the alkaloids from the latex of the opium poppy, Papaver somniferum, led to the identification of over 20 compounds (Fig. 11.1). The most abundant alkaloids were morphine (1), codeine (2), thebaine (3), noscapine (4), and papaverine (5). 

The chemical and pharmacological complexity of the various IQ alkaloid sub-groups is sketched below with pharmacological and other attributes for each compound given in parentheses. Some of the better-known IQ alkaloids derive from opium, the dried milky latex from the unripe seed pods of Papaver somniferum (opium poppy) (Papaveraceae) and accordingly whether a substance is opium-derived is also indicated. Selected representative examples are given for each IQ alkaloid subgroup. 

Annona glabra, A. spp. (Annonaceae), Cryptocarya odorata (Lauraceae), Papaver somniferum (opium poppy latex), P spp. (Papaveraceae)... 

Opium is an alkaloid obtained from the dried latex of incised unripe flower pods of the poppy plant Papaver somniferum and is comprised of as many as 25 different alkaloids, including pharmacologically active morphine, codeine, and papaverine. Opium is cultivated in Southeast Asia, Turkey, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Iran, Nigeria, and Mexico. Heroin is produced by acetylation of morphine. 

Several plants produce milk juice sequestered in laticifers in several plant genera alkaloids are mainly stored in latex vesicles, such as isoquinoline alkaloids in Papaver and Chdidonium, or piperidine alkaloids in Lobelia. If herbivores wound such a plant, the latex will spill out and the herbivore will immediately be confronted with alkaloids. Since most of them are strong poisons, a deterrent effect is usually achieved. Another strategic way to store alkaloids is their sequestration in epidermal vacuoles or in trichomes. These tissues have to ward off not only herbivores (especially small ones) but also microorganisms in the first place. Several classes of alkaloids have been found in epidermal tissues, such as quinohzidine and tropane alkaloids [2,3]. 

The latex obtained by incision of the unripe seed capsule of the poppy, Papaver somniferum, and known as opium is the source of several pharmacologically important alkaloids. Dioskurides, in about a.d. 77, referred to both the latex (opos) and a total plant extract (mekonion) and to the use of oral and inhaled (pipe-smoked) opium to induce a state of euphoria and sedation. Since before the Christian era the therapeutic properties of opium were evident, with the first written reference to poppy juice being by Theophrastus in the third century b.c. 

Diamorphine is prepared by the isolation and acetylation of morphine. While morphine was first discovered in the dried latex of P. somniferum shortly after 1800, it is now known that of the approximately 110 species of Papaver, only two are known to prodnce morphine in significant quantities, namely P. somniferum L. and P. setigerum DC [1,2]. Of the two species, it is P. somniferum which is nsed to provide the dried latex for heroin production. 

Weid, M., Ziegler, J. and Kutchan, T.M. (2004) The role of latex and the vascular bundle in morphine biosynthesis in the opium poppy, Papaver somniferum. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 101,13957-4962. 

Plants which belong to the family Papaveraceae contain latex tissues. The latex is sometimes in vessels, as observed in Papaver and Corydalis, and sometimes in latex sacs, as in Macleaya and Sanguinaria. The latex is a biological fluid containing alkaloids and proteins. 

The localization of enzymes and alkaloidal metabolites in Papaver som-niferum was studied by Roberts et al. by using latex from capsules and stems (13). The expelled latex from the cut end of the capsule or stem was centrifuged at 1000 g for 30 min. The pellet was then layered onto a continuous sucrose gradient. Two fractions sedimenting at 30 and 55-60% sucrose contained a... 

---