2022, Vol. 10, Issue 3, Part A

author(s)
RK Lal

abstract
One of the oldest plants known to humans is the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum L.). It's where opium and opium alkaloids come. By 4000 BC, Sumerians had discovered its therapeutic, nutritional, and narcotic properties, and by 1400-350 BC, Greeks had discovered it. Mutagenesis significantly suppresses enzyme function, weakening or blocking secondary metabolite production. Opium and opium-alkaloids, particularly morphine, are addictive opioids in the opium poppy, leading to serious global drug misuse. In the straw mutant LL-34, the genetic conversion of latex 'opium poppy' into latex less seed poppy' resulted in opium less and very low alkaloids variety Sujata. This publication reviews and describes the nature and kind of specific effective mutations previously achieved at the CSIR-Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Lucknow (India). Medicinal and aromatic crops were recently introduced to the mutant breeding program, maybe in the 1980s in India. Nonetheless, there have been notable achievements, some of which may be one-of-a-kind. At CSIR-CIMAP, Lucknow (India). Coordinated efforts were made for genetic tailoring (restructuring) of the plant frame, enhanced seed productivity in Papaver somniferum L., and weak or absent latex biosynthesis (Opium poppy). Several qualitative macro alterations, such as an opium-free oil-seed variety of opium poppy Sujata, have been developed for commercial use. The abundant quantitative variation was also created by reshuffling the polygenic background in both seed and vegetatively propagated medicinal and aromatic crops (MACs), and then superior varieties were evolved and released after a rigorous screening in the field evaluation or the pipeline for release using the mutation breeding approach. The opium poppy varieties Sujata and Vivek are notable.