Asafetida (Hing) Seed, Ferula assa-feotida

GROW: If you start seeds indoors, you’ll need to stratify them for eight weeks before you sow them, so plan ahead. Your goal should be to plant outdoors after the last predicted frost date. To do this, moisten some sand in a resealable container or bag and mix the seeds into the sand.cSeal it and keep the container in the refrigerator for eight weeks. Make sure the sand stays moist throughout this period.

Outdoors so seed direct in place in Autumn and in Spring as the ground warms the seed will shoot.

Grow in a peat pot as Asafetida does not like it’s large tap root disturbed.

HARVEST: In some regions, they can be self-sowing, so removing the flower heads before they go to seed may be necessary unless you want a field of this herb. Harvest as a vegetable when shoots and leaves are young and tender.

The gum resin is obtained from incisions in the roots and rhizomes of the plants. Usually plants of sour to five years old develop very thick and fleshy, carrot shaped roots. The upper part of the root is laid bare and the stem is cut close to the crown. The exposed surface is covered by a dome shaped structure made of twigs and earth. A milky juice exudes from the cut surface which soon coagulates when exposed to air. After some days, the exudate gum-resin is scraped off and a fresh slice of the root is cut.

Period of harvesting/collection: Tapping is usually done just before the plants flower.

USE: Even small amounts of asafoetida give a comforting onion-garlic flavour, which is especially good in vegetarian dishes, curries and stews – almost anywhere you would use onion and/or garlic.

hysteria, some nervous conditions, bronchitis, asthma and whooping cough.

The gum resin is antispasmodic, carminative, expectorant, laxative, sedative. The volatile oil in the gum is eliminated through the lungs, making this an excellent treatment for asthma.

It is used as a flavoring agent and forms a constituent of many spice mixtures.

Asafoetida is useful in the treatment of respiratory disorders like whooping cough, asthma and bronchitis.

It is reputed as a drug which expels wind from the stomach and counteracts any spasmodic disorders. It is also a nervine stimulant, digestive agent and a sedative.