Nutty and pleasant in taste, poppy seeds are nutritious oilseeds used as a condiment in cooking. Although the seeds obtained from the dry fruits (pods) of the poppy plant (opium poppy), they are entirely free from any harmful side effects of other poppy plant products such as opium poppy.

Poppy plant is a biennial herb of East Mediterranean and Asia Minor origin belonging to the Papaveraceae family, in the genus: Papaver. Scientific name: Papaver somniferum.