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Willy Benecke GUM ASAFOETIDA

Willy Benecke GUM ASAFOETIDA is the gum resin of various plants of the genus Ferula (in English: stick herbs), in particular the species Ferula foetida and Ferula assa-foetida. These plants are native to the barren and arid regions of Central Asia. The ferula plants belong to the Apiaceae family, which also includes the genus Daucus known in German as carrots.

Ingredient Name: Asafoetida

Functions: Spice

End Uses: Flavors

    Knowde Enhanced TDS

    Identification & Functionality

    Ingredient Name
    Food Ingredients Functions
    Ingredients
    Asafoetida
    Technologies

    Features & Benefits

    Product Highlight

    Harvest and refinement 

    Similar to the more well-known carrots, ferula plants form thick taproots. The raw material Asafoetida is obtained by cutting the plants   from the roots after 4 - 5 years . A milky exudate then emerges from the exposed root: asafoetida gum. This is collected by the farmers a few days after the cut, before another cut is made in the root and the process is repeated.  The Asafeotida rubber can be refined in a further step. An asafoetida oil can be extracted from the gum by steam distillation. This oil is widely used in industrial applications. 

    Sensory and phytochemical composition

    The raw material Asafoetida is a whitish to gray-brown rubber compound. The rubber has a foul, penetrating odor, which is why it is nicknamed "devil's dirt" and stinkasant. At the   phytochemical level, Asafoetida gum, like all other gum resins, consists of alcohol-soluble natural resin, water-soluble, polysaccharide gum and a small amount of volatile, aromatic essential oils. Some of these valuable oils are disulphide derivatives, which give the rubber its penetrating odor.

    Applications & Uses

    Food & Nutrition Applications
    Traditional and industrial applications

    Asafoetida develops a smooth onion or garlic-like taste in cooked dishes. In traditional North Indian and Ayurvedic cuisine it is used as a spice and is sometimes called "food of the gods". The essential oils are also the reason why asafoetida gum is used in regional traditional medicine for a variety of uses from Saudi Arabia to China. The effects of this raw material on the human body are slowly moving into the focus of science, where they are examined and researched under laboratory conditions.

    We offer Asafoetida rubber for the following industrial   fields of application:

    • As a raw material in the fragrance industry.
    • As a raw material in the flavor industry.
    • As a spice in the food industry.