Hingu (Hing)

Hingu (Hindi Hing; English asafoetida; from species of Ferula such as Ferula narthex) is the dried gum resin of a foreign plant, known in every Indian kitchen. The Bhavaprakasha Nighantu gives it a verse and a half: five names, its properties and the conditions it is used in (p. 293, verses 100–101). The Hindi commentary adds how it is collected, how to tell good hing from adulterated, and many uses, with a dose of 2–8 ratti (pp. 293–295).

Names

सहस्रवेधि जतुकं बाह्लीकं हिङ्गु रामठम् ॥ १०० ॥

The half verse gives five Sanskrit names: Sahasravedhi ("that which pierces a thousand"), Jatuka (from jatu, lac or resin), Bahlika, Hingu and Ramatha (p. 293, verse 100).

Properties

हिङ्गूष्णं पाचनं रुच्यं तीक्ष्णं वातबलासनुत् । शूलगुल्मोदरानाहकृमिघ्नं पित्तवर्द्धनम् ॥ १०१ ॥

• Guna (quality): sharp (tikshna)
• Virya (potency): hot (ushna)
• Actions: digests (pachana), gives relish for food (ruchya)
• Doshas: removes vata and kapha (balasa); increases pitta

(p. 293, verse 101)

Conditions it is used in

According to the text, hingu is used in colic (shula), gulma, abdominal disorders (udara), bloating with constipation (anaha) and worms (krimi) (p. 293, verse 101).

The plant

The Hindi commentary of this edition adds notes on the plant (pp. 293–294):

• Botanical name: Ferula narthex Boiss., Ferula alliacea Boiss. and Ferula foetida Regel, family Umbelliferae. Each of these species gives a somewhat different resin. English: asafoetida.
• What it is: the dried exudate (niryasa) of a plant that grows outside India.
• Where it grows: Kabul, Herat, Khurasan, Persia and Afghanistan; here and there in Punjab and Kashmir.
• The plant: a bushy plant 5 to 8–9 feet tall. The leaves are 1–2 feet long and cut into many lobes, with notched edges like those of ajmoda; clusters of flowers come at the ends of the shoots. The fruit is oval, from a third to three quarters of an inch around.
• How it is collected: when the plant is four years old it is cut, and the root near the ground is sliced across at a slant. The juice that oozes out dries, and after two days it is scraped off. The root is then sliced again a little higher and the scraping repeated. This dried juice is hing. One plant gives from 2–3 to 5–6 chhatank.
• Part used: the dried gum resin.
• Regional names: Hindi Hing; Bengali Hingu; Punjabi Hinge, Hing; Marathi Hing; Marwari Hing; Gujarati Hingdo, Vagharni, Hing vagharni; Telugu Inguva, Ingur, Ingura; Tamil Perungayam; Kannada Hingu; Persian Anguzah; Arabic Hiltit; English Asafoetida.

Choosing good hing

The commentary says that most hing on sale is adulterated, and gives these marks of good hing (pp. 293–294):

• Good kinds: chokhi, hira and talav hing are counted good, and Kabuli hing is better than the local kind.
• Look: good hing has the colour of Rumi mastagi (mastic), reddish brown or almond brown; a broken lump shows almond colour inside.
• In hot ghee: it puffs up and opens out like popped grain (lava).
• Taste and smell: bitter and harsh like garlic, with a strong garlic smell.
• In water: it looks white when mixed in water; rubbed with water it makes a yellowish, milky liquid that turns greenish yellow when an alkali is added.
• A laboratory test: warmed with sulphuric acid it gives a red to brown liquid; diluted, filtered and made alkaline, this shows a purplish-blue glow.
• Common adulterants: grit, sand, earth, bits of root, godanti (gypsum) and gum.
• Constituents: a sulphur compound; 6–17% of a volatile oil like that found in garlic; resin, including ferulic acid; about 25% gum. Pure hing is 65–75% soluble in alcohol and leaves 3–5% ash.

Uses in the commentary

The commentary calls hing a kindler of digestion and a digestive, says it sends vata downward, eases spasm, stimulates, removes the foul smell of phlegm and helps bring it up, strengthens the nerves, contracts the uterus and kills worms. It leaves the body through the lungs, skin, urine and sweat. It lists these uses (pp. 294–295):

• How it is taken: hing is fried in ghee before use, so that it does not cause vomiting.
• Digestion: in flatulence, colic, constipation and a sluggish stomach and bowel it is given in pills with ajwain, or with aloe (eluva) and soap. The preparations hingvashtaka churna and hingukarpura vati are much used for such complaints.
• Lungs: in chronic bronchitis, asthma, whooping cough, children's pneumonia and dry cough, it is given dissolved in water.
• Nerves: used a great deal in epilepsy (apasmara) and hysteria (apatantraka).
• Fever: taken with food as a guard against intermittent fever (vishamajvara).
• Enema: 2–3 masha of hing rubbed up in water is given as an enema for flatulence, colic and convulsions; it also helps against threadworms.
• Pastes: on the belly of a child with a bloated stomach; on the chest in whooping cough; on guinea worm and ringworm.
• Ear oil: an oil cooked with hing, garlic, rock salt and other things is used in ear disorders, both by mouth with milk (½–1 spoon three or four times a day, or 4 spoons at once in the morning with milk and sugar candy) and warmed, 3–4 drops in the ear. The commentary calls it a good antiseptic.
• Dose given: 2–8 ratti.

Pregnancy and childbirth: for physicians only

The commentary says hing contracts the uterus (p. 294). It also mentions two uses that belong to a physician, not to home care, and this page does not give their doses:

• after childbirth, to help clear the discharge;
• a course of pills against repeated miscarriage.

Because the same commentary calls hing uterine-contracting, none of this should be tried in pregnancy except under a qualified vaidya (p. 294).

Sources

• Bhavamishra, Bhavaprakasha Nighantu, Haritakyadi varga, verses 100–101: p. 293 (scan and text on SarvaKosh)
• Vidyotini Hindi commentary, notes on the plant, its testing and uses: pp. 293–295

This page describes what the granth says. It is not medical advice; consult a qualified vaidya before using any remedy.