FERULA ASAFOETIDA

Botanical name:Ferula asafoetida
Family:Apiaceae

Asafoetida General Information

From early times, Asafoetida has been held in great esteem amongst indigenous Indian medicine men. It is the pungent odor of this resin that is the cause for some of its strange names, such as Devil’s Dung, Stinking Gum, Asant, Food of the Gods, Hing, Hingu, Heeng and Giant Fennel. The name Asafoetida is derived from the Persian word for “resin” and the Latin word for “stinking”. The herb is a native of Persia, but has been cultivated in Europe and India for over 2,000 years. Asafoetida is grown mostly in Iran and Afghanistan from where it is exported to the rest of the world.

The juice of the plant is not collected till the plant is at least four years old. In the spring, March/April, just before the flowering occurs, the stalks are cut close to the root. The plant can yield up to 2lbs of resin out of the root once it is pulled out and dried up.

morphology

It is a perennial fennel that grows wild to 12ft high, in large natural forests where little else grows. It has fine leaves and yellow flowers. The roots are thick and pulpy and also yield a similar resin to that of the stems, it is said the roots look like “carrots”. All parts of the plant have a distinctive stinky smell.

Asafoetida Uses & Scientific Evidence For

In Ayurvedic medicine, Asafoetida is used to treat hysteria, nervous disorders, flatulence, flatulent colic, digestion, and spasmodic affections of the bowels. It is also used to treat whooping cough, pneumonia, bronchitis, and asthma as well. In Ayurvedic, Western, and Chinese medicine this resin is effective in treating worms and other intestinal parasites. Asafoetida has reputation for expelling wind from the stomach and relieves stomach spasms. In the 19th century it was commonly used to treat hysterical women with mood swings, depression, a digestive weakness. In Ayurvedic medicine, it is highly regarded as a condiment and medicinal remedy for various conditions. Traditional Chinese herbalists say this resin enters the liver, spleen, and stomach channels where it stimulates the intestinal, respiratory, and nervous systems. Asafoetida has digestive, sedative, stimulant, antispasmodic, expectorant, emmenagogue (promoting menstrual discharge), and vermifuge (expelling worms or other parasites in the intestines) properties

Asafoetida Dosage Information

Asafoetida comes in various forms and is an ingredient in many products. For best results, read and follow product label directions.

Used plant part

The milk juice (obtained from the root), which becomes a brown, resin-like mass after drying. The trading form is either the pure resin or so-called com­pounded asafetida which is a fine powder consisting to more than 50% of rice flour and gum arabic to prevent lumping. The advantage of the compounded form is that is is easier to dose.