Opium is dried latex obtained from the seed capsules of the opium poppy Papaver somniferum. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, which is processed chemically to produce heroin and other synthetic opioids for medicinal use and for the illegal drug trade. The latex also contains the closely related opiates codeine and thebaine, and non-analgesic alkaloids such as papaverine and noscapine. The traditional, labor-intensive method of obtaining the latex is to scratch ("score") the immature seed pods (fruits) by hand; the latex leaks out and dries to a sticky yellowish residue that is later scraped off and dehydrated. The word meconium historically referred to related, weaker preparations made from other parts of the opium poppy or different species of poppies.
Opium poppy seed pod exuding latex from a cut
Poppy crop from the Malwa in India (probably Papaver somniferum var. album)
Opium users in Java during the Dutch colonial period, c. 1870
Latin translation of Avicenna's Canon of Medicine, 1483
Latex is an emulsion of polymer microparticles in water. Latices are found in nature, but synthetic latices are common as well.
Tapping of latex from a tree, for use in rubber production
Rubber tapping latex
Opium poppy exuding fresh latex from a cut