Which natural-product medicine is derived from the opium poppy?

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Multiple Choice

Which natural-product medicine is derived from the opium poppy?

Morphine is the natural product most directly tied to the opium poppy. It is the primary alkaloid that is extracted from the latex of Papaver somniferum and has long served as a standard analgesic in medicine because it acts strongly on mu-opioid receptors to relieve pain. While codeine also comes from opium, it occurs in smaller amounts and is typically obtained by modifying morphine or by separate processing; heroin is a diacetylated, semi-synthetic derivative of morphine and fentanyl is fully synthetic, not derived from opium. So the substance that is truly a natural product isolated from the opium poppy and used as a medicine in its original form is morphine.

Morphine is the natural product most directly tied to the opium poppy. It is the primary alkaloid that is extracted from the latex of Papaver somniferum and has long served as a standard analgesic in medicine because it acts strongly on mu-opioid receptors to relieve pain. While codeine also comes from opium, it occurs in smaller amounts and is typically obtained by modifying morphine or by separate processing; heroin is a diacetylated, semi-synthetic derivative of morphine and fentanyl is fully synthetic, not derived from opium. So the substance that is truly a natural product isolated from the opium poppy and used as a medicine in its original form is morphine.

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