Arugula

Arugula is a fast-growing annual that forms a rosette of lobed, dark green leaves, then sends up a stalk 40 to 100 cm tall with cream flowers veined in purple. The slender pods hold two rows of small, round to oval, light brown seeds, roughly 1 to 2 mm across.

The seeds have a sharp, mustardy and slightly nutty flavour from glucosinolates, similar to the leaves but hotter. They are sold for sowing and for sprouting or microgreens, and in India and Pakistan they are crushed to make a pungent oil used for pickling and cooking. Seed meal, left after pressing, is used as animal feed and as a biofumigant in farming.

Eruca vesicaria is native to the Mediterranean region, from southern Europe to North Africa and western Asia, and was brought into cultivation in ancient times. It now grows as a crop and as a weed across temperate regions, and in India and Pakistan it is grown as an oilseed on dry land in the winter season.

The English name arugula comes from the Italian dialect form arugola, derived from Latin eruca, while rocket derives from French roquette and Italian rucola. Vesicaria is Latin for bladder-like, referring to the inflated pods.

Arugula has been used by Mediterranean peoples for thousands of years. Ancient Roman authors, including Pliny the Elder and Columella, mention eruca as a salad plant and a spice, and the Romans considered it an aphrodisiac, an idea that persisted into the Middle Ages. Its seeds were a mustard-like seasoning when stronger spices were scarce, and the plant was grown in monastery and cottage gardens.

In the Indian subcontinent, the seed became important as a source of oil, called taramira or tara mira in Hindi, and farmers in Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab grew it on dry land after other crops, as it needs little water. Taramira oil has traditionally been used for pickles and as a pungent cooking oil, and in some places for massage.

In the late 20th century, arugula surged in popularity as a gourmet salad leaf in North America and Britain, following Italian and Californian cooking trends, and the seeds are now widely sprouted for microgreens. Plant breeders and agronomists study the crop for its drought tolerance and for its seed meal used in soil biofumigation.

Seeds are germinated for peppery sprouts and microgreens, crushed into a hot, mustard-like seasoning or pressed into oil used in Indian pickles and cooking. The leaves are served raw on pizza, in salads and pasta, and wilted in sauces.

In farming, the seed meal is used as animal feed and as a biofumigant that suppresses soil pests, and the oil has industrial uses in lubricants. In Italy, Egypt and elsewhere, the seed has also been added to salads and spice pastes much like a mild mustard seed.

Arugula leaves and sprouts supply vitamin K, vitamin C, folate and glucosinolates, plant compounds that can form isothiocyanates and are studied for protective effects. Seeds are eaten in small amounts so contribute little to nutrition, and clinical evidence for seed or oil health benefits is limited. Seed oil contains substantial erucic acid, so high intakes are not advisable.