Poppyseed oil (also poppy seed oil and poppy oil) is an
edible oil obtained from
poppy seed
Poppy seed is an oilseed obtained from the poppy plant (''Papaver somniferum''). The tiny, kidney-shaped seeds have been harvested from dried seed pods by various civilizations for thousands of years. It is still widely used in many countries, ...
s (specifically
seed
In botany, a seed is a plant structure containing an embryo and stored nutrients in a protective coat called a ''testa''. More generally, the term "seed" means anything that can be Sowing, sown, which may include seed and husk or tuber. Seeds ...
s of ''
Papaver somniferum
''Papaver somniferum'', commonly known as the opium poppy or breadseed poppy, is a species of flowering plant in the family Papaveraceae. It is the species of plant from which both opium and poppy seeds are derived and is also a valuable orname ...
'', the
opium poppy).
Poppy seeds yield 45–50% oil.
Like poppy seeds, poppyseed oil is highly palatable, high in
vitamin E
Vitamin E is a group of eight compounds related in molecular structure that includes four tocopherols and four tocotrienols. The tocopherols function as fat-soluble antioxidants which may help protect cell membranes from reactive oxygen speci ...
, and has no
narcotic
The term narcotic (, from ancient Greek ναρκῶ ''narkō'', "I make numb") originally referred medically to any psychoactive compound with numbing or paralyzing properties. In the United States, it has since become associated with opiates ...
properties. Poppy seeds are especially high in
tocopherols other than vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol). Compared to other
vegetable oil
Vegetable oils, or vegetable fats, are oils extracted from seeds or from other parts of edible plants. Like animal fats, vegetable fats are ''mixtures'' of triglycerides. Soybean oil, grape seed oil, and cocoa butter are examples of seed ...
s, poppyseed oil has a moderate amount of
phytosterol
Phytosterols are phytosteroids, similar to cholesterol, that serve as structural components of biological membranes of plants. They encompass plant sterols and stanol ester, stanols. More than 250 sterols and related compounds have been identified ...
s: higher than
soybean oil and
peanut oil, lower than
safflower oil,
sesame oil,
wheat germ oil,
corn oil, and
rice bran oil. It has little or no odor and a pleasant taste, and it is less likely than some other oils to become rancid.
[
]
Uses
The oil is sometimes used as a cooking oil; it is also used for moisturizing skin. Its primary use, however, is in the manufacture of paints, varnishes, and soaps.
Poppyseed oil is a drying oil. In oil painting
Oil painting is a painting method involving the procedure of painting with pigments combined with a drying oil as the Binder (material), binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on canvas, wood panel, or oil on coppe ...
, the most popular oil for binding pigment, thinning paint, and varnishing finished paintings is linseed oil
Linseed oil, also known as flaxseed oil or flax oil (in its edible form), is a colorless to yellowish oil obtained from the dried, ripened seeds of the flax plant (''Linum usitatissimum''). The oil is obtained by pressing, sometimes followed by ...
. Walnut oil and poppyseed oil are also favored by oil painters, though each oil is used for a different purpose. Poppyseed oil is used especially in white paints.[ Up through the late 19th century, when these oils became available prepared in tubes, painters tended to prepare them by hand.
While poppyseed oil does not leave the unwanted yellow tint for which linseed oil is known, it is much weaker in the test of time than the contemporary linseed oil. Poppyseed oil dries much more slowly (5–7 days) than linseed oil (3–5 days). For this reason poppyseed oil should not be used for a ground layer of a painting, and linseed oil should not be painted over a layer of poppyseed oil.
Poppyseed oil is the basis of lipiodol, a ]radiocontrast
Radiocontrast agents are substances used to enhance the visibility of internal structures in X-ray-based imaging techniques such as computed tomography (contrast CT), projectional radiography, and fluoroscopy. Radiocontrast agents are typically iod ...
agent used in medical radiology and a treatment for iodine deficiency.
History
An early 20th century industry manual states that while the opium poppy was grown extensively in Eurasia
Eurasia ( , ) is a continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. According to some geographers, Physical geography, physiographically, Eurasia is a single supercontinent. The concept of Europe and Asia as distinct continents d ...
, most of the world production of poppyseed oil occurred in France and Germany, from poppy seeds imported from other countries. From 1900 to 1911, France and Germany together produced on the order of 60,000,000 kilograms per year. At that time, poppyseed oil was used primarily to dress salads and frequently was adulterated with sesame oil and hazelnut oil to improve the taste of oil from stored (rancid) seeds. Poppyseed oil was used to adulterate olive oil
Olive oil is a vegetable oil obtained by pressing whole olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea'', a traditional Tree fruit, tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin) and extracting the oil.
It is commonly used in cooking for frying foods, as a cond ...
and peach kernel oil.[
]
See also
* Fat over lean
References
External links
*
{{fatsandoils
oil
Cooking oils
Vegetable oils
Painting materials