Influence of Co-60 Gamma Irradiated Sodium Alginate on the Opium Poppy

Opium poppy (Papaver somniferum L.) is one of the most important medicinal plants which yields many opiate alkaloids including morphine thebaine codeine papaverine and noscapine. The opium poppy contains a wide range of alkaloids and has been a very valuable medicine especially useful in bringing relief from pain and in treating certain kinds of coughs. Keeping above characteristics in mind it seems highly desirable to make efforts to boost up the plant growth and productivity of its alkaloids through a novel agricultural technique. Recently it has been discovered that polysaccharides such as sodium alginate can be degraded in to monomers and oligomers of low molecular weights due to scission of glycosidic bonds by gamma radiation. The oligomers when applied to plants elicit various kinds of biological and physiological activities including plant productivity.