Abstract
Temperate regions have relatively few oil-yielding plants, and under the stress of war-time needs, Dr. R. Melville makes the interesting suggestion (Gard. Chron., Feb. 8) that the oil (opium) poppy, Papaver somniferum, would be a suitable crop to grow in Great Britain as a source of fatty nourishment. The seeds have a pleasant, nutty flavour, and contain about 50 per cent of edible oil, with 20 per cent of protein. It is thought that yields of 8 cwt. of seed per acre should be possible in the climate of Great Britain. The seeds do not contain any toxic or narcotic substances, and the most potent vindication of the suggestion is that about twenty acres of the crop used to be cultivated regularly in the Isle of Axholme.
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Food from the Poppy. Nature 147, 412 (1941). https://doi.org/10.1038/147412b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/147412b0