Abstract
SUMMARY In a field experiment in the north-west region of Tasmania, poppies ( Papaver somniferum L.) were harvested at weekly intervals beginning 10 days after full bloom and continuing until 4 weeks after the dry commercial harvest stage. At each harvest the plants were cut off at ground level and partitioned into terminal capsules, lateral capsules, seed and the combined stem plus leaf component. The dry-matter yield of total plant and of all the components except seed achieved maximum values 2–3 weeks after full bloom and then progressively declined. For the total plant this decrease between maximum dry weight and that at the time of commercial harvest (8 weeks after full bloom) amounted to 26% while for terminal capsules it was 37% for lateral capsules 15% and for stem plus leaves 39%. In contrast, the dry-matter yield of total seed rose to a maximum by 4 weeks after full bloom and then remained constant for the duration of the experiment. The morphine concentration of both terminal and lateral capsules reached a maximum value of 1·1% 6 weeks after full bloom and then decreased by about 10% at the dry harvest stage. The morphine concentration of stem and leaves also reached a maximum of 0·1% about the same time as capsules but decreased rapidly and had halved by dry commercial harvest. The mutually compensating factors of decreasing dry-matter yield and increasing morphine concentration gave similar total plant morphine yields at any time of harvest from 2 to 7 weeks after full bloom. The morphine extracted from the whole plant at these times of harvest was about 50% greater than that derived from capsules alone at the time of dry commercial harvest.
Abstract from the paper’s OpenAlex record, shown for indexing and research. Copyright remains with the authors or the publisher. Read at the source ↗
The text the model read, with the source record’s inline markup (italics, sub- and superscripts) rendered and its character entities decoded; quote offsets refer to the raw text.
Claims 12
Claim · model-written summary
Total plant and non-seed component dry matter peaked 2–3 weeks after full bloom, then declined.
Verbatim
e0“The dry-matter yield of total plant and of all the components except seed achieved maximum values 2–3 weeks after full bloom and then progressively declined”
t0“poppies (Papaver somniferumL.)”
Claim · model-written summary
Total plant dry weight fell 26% from its maximum to commercial harvest.
Verbatim
e0“For the total plant this decrease between maximum dry weight and that at the time of commercial harvest (8 weeks after full bloom) amounted to 26%”
t0“poppies (Papaver somniferumL.)”
Claim · model-written summary
Terminal capsule dry weight fell 37% by commercial harvest.
Verbatim
e0“for terminal capsules it was 37%”
e1“this decrease between maximum dry weight and that at the time of commercial harvest (8 weeks after full bloom)”
t0“poppies (Papaver somniferumL.)”
Claim · model-written summary
Lateral capsule dry weight fell 15% by commercial harvest.
Verbatim
e0“for lateral capsules 15%”
e1“this decrease between maximum dry weight and that at the time of commercial harvest (8 weeks after full bloom)”
t0“poppies (Papaver somniferumL.)”
Claim · model-written summary
Stem plus leaf dry weight fell 39% by commercial harvest.
Verbatim
e0“for stem plus leaves 39%”
e1“this decrease between maximum dry weight and that at the time of commercial harvest (8 weeks after full bloom)”
t0“poppies (Papaver somniferumL.)”
Claim · model-written summary
Seed dry matter reached a maximum by four weeks after full bloom and remained constant.
Verbatim
e0“the dry-matter yield of total seed rose to a maximum by 4 weeks after full bloom and then remained constant”
t0“poppies (Papaver somniferumL.)”
Claim · model-written summary
Capsule morphine concentration peaked at 1·1% six weeks after bloom.
Verbatim
e0“The morphine concentration of both terminal and lateral capsules reached a maximum value of 1·1% 6 weeks after full bloom”
t0“poppies (Papaver somniferumL.)”
Claim · model-written summary
Capsule morphine concentration declined about 10% by dry harvest.
Verbatim
e0“then decreased by about 10% at the dry harvest stage”
e1“The morphine concentration of both terminal and lateral capsules”
t0“poppies (Papaver somniferumL.)”
Claim · model-written summary
Stem and leaf morphine concentration peaked at 0·1%.
Verbatim
e0“The morphine concentration of stem and leaves also reached a maximum of 0·1%”
t0“poppies (Papaver somniferumL.)”
Claim · model-written summary
Stem and leaf morphine concentration halved by commercial harvest.
Verbatim
e0“decreased rapidly and had halved by dry commercial harvest”
e1“The morphine concentration of stem and leaves”
t0“poppies (Papaver somniferumL.)”
Claim · model-written summary
Whole plant morphine yields were similar for harvests two to seven weeks after bloom.
Verbatim
e0“similar total plant morphine yields at any time of harvest from 2 to 7 weeks after full bloom”
t0“poppies (Papaver somniferumL.)”
Claim · model-written summary
Whole plant harvest yielded about 50% more morphine than capsules alone at commercial harvest.
Verbatim
e0“The morphine extracted from the whole plant at these times of harvest was about 50% greater than that derived from capsules alone at the time of dry commercial harvest”
t0“poppies (Papaver somniferumL.)”