Ferula assa-foetida

asafoetida • devil’s dung

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Ferula assa-foetida L. (Apiaceae); duiwelsdrek (Afrikaans); a wei (Chinese); férule persique, ase fétide (French); hing (Hindi); Stinkasant, Teufelsdreck (German); assafetida (Italian); agi (Japanese); anghuzeh (Persian); hingu (Sanskrit); asafetida (Spanish); dyvelsträck (Swedish)

DESCRIPTION The oleoresin gum known as asafoetida or hing is a waxy, golden brown resinous material with a very strong, garlic-like, sulphurous odour (hence the name devil’s dung; Teufelsdreck in German). The pure product is too strong to be used directly as a culinary spice and is therefore sold as a powder, diluted with gum arabic and flour, so that small quantities can be sprinkled on food. The product is obtained from various Ferula species, including F. assa-foetida, F. foetida (nowadays perhaps the most important commercial source) and F. narthex.1,2 The name assa-foetida comes from aza (Persian for gum) and foetida (Latin for foul-smelling) but there is doubt about the correct application of the botanical name.3

THE PLANT Ferula species used for gum production are robust perennial herbs with compound leaves and large umbels of yellow flowers.

ORIGIN Ferula assa-foetida occurs in western Iran, F. foetida from eastern Iran to Pakistan and India and F. narthex in Afghanistan.1 These are the best known sources of culinary asafoetida but there are several other plants of the Apiaceae (Umbelliferae) that are sources of resinous gums used in perfumes, incenses and traditional medicine.2

CULTIVATION Ferula species are mostly wild-harvested from native or naturalized plants.

HARVESTING Gum is obtained from mature plants just before they flower. The top part of the plant is cut off and the collar above the root is exposed by removing the soil. The milky latex is collected once it has solidified. A fresh cut is then made and the gum again collected. The process is repeated for up to three months until there is no longer any exudate to collect.

CULINARY USES Asafoetida is an important spice in Middle Eastern and South Asian cuisines and is widely used (especially in India) to flavour meat dishes, stews, gravies, sauces, mushrooms and pickles. When used sparingly, the offensive smell is lost during cooking, leaving a pleasant, garlic-like aroma. The spice is not popular in Western cuisine but is (or was) allegedly an essential ingredient of Worcestershire sauce.

FLAVOUR COMPOUNDS The gum or oleoresin is a complex mixture of compounds, including ferulic acid esters, polysaccharide gums based on glucose, galactose and galacturonic acids, as well as terpenoids and coumarins.4,5 The odour is ascribed to various sulphides and sulfanes; sec-butyl-propenyl disulphide (both E and Z isomers) are usually the main sulphur compounds.4,5

NOTES A famous North African (Libyan) condiment known as silphium or laserpitium was used in ancient Roman cuisine and Greek traditional medicine but is thought to have been over-exploited to the point of extinction because of its rarity and high value.2 Silphium seems to have been replaced by asafoetida.

1. Mabberley, D.J. 2008. Mabberley’s plant-book (3rd ed.). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

2. Langenheim, J.H. 2003. Plant resins, pp. 412–417. Timber Press, Portland.

3. Chamberlain, D.F. 1977. The identity of Ferula assa-foetida L. Notes from the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh 35: 229–233.

4. Rajanikanth, B., Ravindranath, B., Shankaranarayana, M.L. 1984. Volatile polysulphides of asafoetida. Phytochemistry 23: 899–900.

5. Degenhardt, A. et al. 2012. Novel insights into the flavour chemistry of asafetida. In: Recent advances in the analysis of food and flavors, Chapter 12, pp. 167–175. American Chemical Society.