Cryptopine

/ˌkrɪptoʊˈpaɪn/ noun

Definition

An alkaloid compound isolated from opium poppies, related to other opioid alkaloids and used in pharmaceutical research.

Etymology

From 'crypto-' (hidden) and '-pine' (from alkaloid nomenclature), named because it was a difficult-to-isolate alkaloid within poppy plants first identified in the late 1800s.

Kelly Says

Scientists found this alkaloid so deeply hidden in opium plants that they literally called it 'hidden-pine'—it took specialized chemistry to extract it from the complex mixture of 20+ alkaloids in poppy latex.

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