Medical applications
Antiflatulent. Asafoetida reduces the growth of indigenous microflora in the gut, reducing flatulence.
In the Jammu region of India, asafoetida is used as a medicine for flatulence and constipation by 60% of locals.[8]
A digestion aid. In Thailand and India, it is used to aid digestion and is smeared on the abdomen in an alcohol or water tincture known as mahahing. Assafoetida in this tincture form was evidently used in western medicine as a topical treatment for abdominal injuries during the 18th and 19th centuries, although when it came into use in the West and how long it remained in use is uncertain. One notable case in which it was used is that of Canadian Coureur des bois Alexis St. Martin, who in 1822 suffered a severe abdominal injury from an accidental shooting that perforated his right lung and stomach and shattered several ribs. St Martin was treated by American army surgeon William Beaumont, who subsequently used St Martin as the subject of a pioneering series of experiments in gastric physiology, thanks to the fact that when St Martin's wounds fully healed, it left an open fistula into the stomach that enabled Beaumont to insert various types of food directly into St Martin's stomach and record the results. In his account of his treatment of and later experiments on St Martin, Beaumont recorded that he treated the suppurating chest wound with a combination of wine mixed with diluted muriatic acid and 30-40 drops of tincture of asafoetida applied three times a day, and that this appeared to have the desired effect, helping the wound to heal.]
Fighting influenza: Asafoetida was used in 1918 to fight the Spanish influenza pandemic. In 2009, researchers reported that the roots of Asafoetida produce natural antiviral drug compounds that demonstrated potency against the H1N1 virus in vitro and concluded that "sesquiterpene coumarins from F. assa-foetida may serve as promising lead compounds for new drug development against influenza A (H1N1) viral infection".[12][13]
Remedy for asthma and bronchitis. It is also said[14] to be helpful in cases of asthma and bronchitis. A folk tradition remedy for children's colds: it is mixed into a pungent-smelling paste and hung in a bag around the afflicted child's neck.
An antimicrobial: Asafoetida has a broad range of uses in traditional medicine as an antimicrobial, with well documented uses for treating chronic bronchitis and whooping cough, as well as reducing flatulence.
A contraceptive/abortifacient: Asafoetida has also been reported to have contraceptive/abortifacient activity,.[16] It is related to (and considered an inferior substitute for) the ancient Ferula species Silphium.[citation needed]
Antiepileptic: Asafoetida oleo-gum-resin has been reported to be antiepileptic in classical Unani, as well as ethnobotanical literature.]
Balancing the vata and kapha. In India according to the Ayurveda, asafoetida is considered to be one of the best spices for balancing the vata dosha. It mitigates vata and kapha, relieves flatulence and colic pain. It is pungent in taste and at the end of digestion. It aggravates pitta, enhances appetite, taste and digestion. It is easy to digest. (ref: ashtanga hridaya Su chapter 6)]
Antidote for opium. Asafoetida has only been speculated to be an antidote for opium.
Acifidity Bag. Asafoetida was approved by the US Pharmacopedia to stave off the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918 that killed millions worldwide. It was placed into pouches called "acifidity bags" that were provided by drug stores to be hung around the neck to try to prevent catching the disease.