Asafetida 221
12.1 Introduction
Asafoetida or Asafetida is the dried latex, oleogum or oleoresin exuded from the
taproots of perennial herbs belonging to many species of the genus Ferula, of the
family Umbeliferacaea (Pruthi 1976). There are about 60 species of the genus Fe rula,
found mainly in three geographical areas, Central Asia, Europe and North Africa.
Central Asia is the main source of asafetida and Afghanistan and Iran are the major
producers in this region. The trade name, asafetida, is based on the scientific name of
one of the most important species, Ferula asafetida (Duke 2003). The commercially
important species of Ferula have been reviewed by Raghavan et al. (1974) and are
summarized in Table 12.1.
12.1.1 Botany
Commercial asafetida is obtained mainly from F. asafetida and also from F. narthex,
as well as a few other species. While F. asafetida is grown extensively in Iran and
Afghanistan, F. narthex is found in the dry valleys of the Ladakh region in Kashmir,
at an altitude of 4000 m. The oleogum of F. narthex, though not true asafetida, is used
as a substitute for asafetida in India. F. asafetida is indigenous to Iran (Andi et al.
1997).
The asafetida plant has a perennial fusiform root that is several centimetres in
diameter, with a coarse, hairy summit, either simple like a parsnip or with one or
more forks. The bark is wrinkled and blackish, and the internal structure is fleshy and
white, containing a large amount of thick, milky, fetid, alliaceous juice. The leaves
are few in number, radical, and appear in the autumn. They grow to about 45 cm in
length during winter and wither by the end of spring. The leaves are shiny, coriaceous
like those of lovage, glaucous green, and pinnated with pinnatifid segments whose
lobes are oblong and obtuse. The petioles are terete and channelled only at the base.
The stem is herbaceous, 2.5 m to 3.25 m long and about 15 cm in circumference at
the base, solid, smooth and clothed with membranous sheaths.
12 Asafetida....................................................................................................
C. K. George, Peermade Development Society, India