Over a thousand tons of opium were smuggled through Canton each year, even after opium smoking had been banned in China. After Chinese officials' pleas to stop the trade of opium fell on the deaf ears of the British monarch, a viceroy was installed at Canton in 1838. Many historians feel that the loss of these wars is still affecting China today. Selective breeding yields large capsules containing numerous seeds. Opium comes from the latex, or sap, collected from immature fruits.
Opium latex is harvested just after the petals drop and before the fruit matures.
The fruit type is a capsule, an example of a dry fruit that splits at maturity. The white, opium-containing sap oozes freely from vertical slashes made on immature capsules. It is white when collected and dries into a brown-black mass. Immature opium poppy capsules oozing latex from gashes made with a razor blade. Alkaloids are a major class of natural products that have a physiological effect in other organisms.