Nutritive Profile of 'Baby Leaf' Domestic Poppy in the Context of Urban Functional Food

Project Title: Nutritional Value of Young Leaves of Domestic Poppy in the Context of Urban Functional Food

Acronym: BabyPOP

Project Duration: February 19, 2026 – February 18, 2031

Project Leader: Assist. Prof. Ivana Varga, PhD

Collaborators:
Dejan Bošnjak, Mario Franić, Sanja Grubišić Šestanj, Željka Kuharić, Boris Ravnjak, Monika Tkalec Kojić

Partners:
Teaching Institute of Public Health “Dr. Andrija Štampar”
Institute of Agriculture and Tourism Poreč

Project Summary:

Domestic poppy (Papaver somniferum L.) is mainly cultivated for its seeds, especially in Central and Eastern Europe, and its production is legally regulated in the EU due to opium alkaloids. Interest in the production of poppies is growing in Croatia. Globally, the demand for young plant shoots (baby leaves) is growing due to their nutritional value and functional properties. The aim of this project is the establishment of the production technology of baby leaf poppy in the floating hydroponics system. Such a system enables faster growth, optimization of resources, and production of fast-growing super food throughout the whole year. The other aim of the project is to genotype the local poppy population and develop a methodology for the analysis of biologically active compounds, nutritional composition, and antioxidant activity of baby leaf poppy. The project will optimize the production process of young poppy leaves as a fast-growing super food. According to the available literature, this is the first research that deals with the technology of producing young poppy leaves for salad, which opens up a completely new field of poppy utilization and encourages the revitalization of this culture in Croatia and beyond.

Keywords: Papaver somniferum L., bioactive component, genotyping, hydroponics, in vitro, yield

Total Project Budget: €232,990.00

Amount Allocated to FAZOS: €232,990.00

Project Website: under development