Poppyseed Oil - History

History

An early 20th century industry manual states that while the opium poppy was grown extensively in Eurasia, 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 and peach kernel oil. Poor quality poppyseed oil was valuable in the soap industry.

Some pharmaceutical uses of the other major product of Papaver somniferum, opium, were recognized thousands of years ago. In contrast, pharmaceutical uses of poppyseed oil began in the 20th century. Iodized poppyseed oil was the subject of a 1959 article in a pharmaceutical research journal. Various formulations were tried. In 1976 a contrast agent for imaging the liver and spleen using computed tomography was proposed: AG 60.99, an emulsion of poppyseed oil. A 1979 article reports on a new formulation, "improved" over ethiodol: "an emulsion of triglycerides of iodinated poppy seed oil". After a series of experiments in animals, by 1981 iodized poppy seed oil was in use as a contrast agent for computed tomography in humans.