Selection of Poppy (Papaver somniferum L.) Cultivars for Culinary Purposes É. Németh and J. Bernáth CUB University, Department of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants 1118 Budapest, Villányi str. 29 Hungary Keywords: opiate alkaloids, narcotic control, industrial processing, morphine, selection, new cultivars Abstract In European countries, parallel with the administrative regulations, a new strategy was worked out for cultivation of poppy (Papaver somniferum L.). The countries according to their traditions can be interested in pharmaceutical processing, culinary production, or growing plants of ornamental type. Especially the importance of cultivars accumulating low level of alkaloids in the capsule is increasing, because they are allowed to cultivate for culinary purposes without severe restriction and control. In this work our results are presented in creation of 'spring' and 'autumn sown' cultivars of low capsule alkaloid content. To develop spring-sown type cultivar of low alkaloid content, three poppy cultivars ('Óriás Kék', 'Przemko', 'Libra') were crossed. After four years of consequent selfing and individual selection the best line under the name ‘Ametiszt’ was chosen for registration procedure. Its alkaloid content in the capsule is rather low, less than 0.1%. The cultivar was registered by the Hungarian authorities in 2003 and obtained EU patent afterwards in 2004. 30 different winter poppy populations of gene bank origin (Hungarian National Gene Bank, Tápioszele) were involved into the selection procedure to get 'autumn-sown' type cultivars of low capsule alkaloid content. As a result of 4 year long selection and selfing 2 families were chosen, where the individuals showed acceptable morphological and production-biological characteristics and their alkaloid content in the capsules was less than 2.0%. One line from each family was nominated for cultivar comparison test under the name of ‘Leila’ and ‘Lilla’, respectively. The official control has been started in 2006 under the aegis of the Hungarian National Agricultural Quality Control Institute. INTRODUCTION Poppy seems to be one of the few species which were utilised and cultivated since prehistoric times (Tétényi, 1997). The narcotic and nutritive values of its products were recognised by the Greeks, Egypt and Romans. Hippocrates (460-377 BC) was one of the first who emphasised the medical advantages of poppy and its preparations. The nutritive property of the seeds was also recognised by him. Poppy spread over from its Middle Asian gene centre through the Roman Empire, later its cultivation became very common in Europe. At present, as a result of the large genetic, morphological and physiological plasticity of poppy, the species is cultivated up to the Arctic Circle as well as under tropical conditions (Bernáth, 1998). The reason of the wide distribution of the poppy can be explained by the well- known narcotic, pharmacological and nutritive value of its products. The utilization of opiate alkaloids (either taken from the opium or extracted from the dry capsule) is important, even nowadays (Fürst and Hosztafi, 1998). At the same time poppy seed is utilised for human consumption, industrial processing and in the manufacture of animal feeds. Since the isolation of morphine by Sertürner in 1805 more than 40 alkaloids have been isolated from the poppy. The increasing demand for poppy alkaloids is the consequence of the widening of the medical application of morphine and its related compounds (Anonyms, 1998, 1999). The invention of the Hungarian pharmacist Kabay in 413 Proc. I st IC on Culinary Herbs Eds.: K. Turgut et al. Acta Hort. 826, ISHS 2009