ASAFOETIDA, a gum-resin obtained chiefly from an urn belliferous plant (Ferula foetida), allied to the giant fennel (q.v.), native to Persia and Afghanistan. It grows to 5 or 6 ft., and when four years old is ready for yielding asafoetida. The stems are cut down close to the root, and a milky juice flows out which quickly sets into a solid resinous mass. A freshly exposed surface of asafoetida has a translucent, pearly-white appearance, but it soon darkens in the air, becoming first pink and finally reddish brown. In taste it is acrid and bitter and emits a strong onion like odour, due to the presence of organic sulphur compounds.
Asafoetida is found in commerce in "lump" or in "tear," the latter being the purer form. Medicinally, given in doses of 5 to 15 grains, it stimulates the intestinal and respiratory tracts and the nervous system, and is sometimes useful in hysteria and malingering. The gum-resin is relished as a condiment in India and Persia, and is in demand in France for use in cookery. In the regions of its growth the whole plant is used as a fresh vegetable, the inner portion of the full-grown stem being regarded as a luxury.