Eruca sativa
| Eruca sativa | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Embryophytes |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Spermatophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Brassicales |
| Family: | Brassicaceae |
| Genus: | Eruca |
| Species: | E. sativa |
| Binomial name | |
| Eruca sativa | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
| |
Eruca sativa (also known as arugula, rocket, or eruca,[2]) is an edible annual plant in the family Brassicaceae. Other common names include salad rocket,[3] garden rocket,[4][2] colewort, roquette, ruchetta, rucola, rucoli, and rugula.
Eruca sativa is native to the Mediterranean and Asia. Its wide availability and sharp flavor make it widely popular as a leaf vegetable, including in salads.
Description
[edit]Eruca sativa is an annual plant[5] growing to 20 to 100 cm (8 to 40 in) in height. The pinnate leaves are deeply lobed with four to ten small, lateral lobes and a large terminal lobe. The flowers are 2 to 4 cm (3⁄4 to 1+1⁄2 in) in diameter, arranged in a corymb, with the typical Brassicaceae flower structure. The petals are creamy white with purple veins, and the stamens are yellow. The fruit is a siliqua (pod) 12 to 25 mm (1⁄2 to 1 in) long with an apical beak, containing several seeds. The species has a chromosome number of 2n = 22.[2][4][6]
Young plants
Seed pods
Flower
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Taxonomy
[edit]Some botanists consider E. sativa a subspecies of Eruca vesicaria.[4] However, they are different in many morphological aspects, such as sepal persistence, silique shape, and habit. Most importantly, they do not hybridize freely with each other as there is partial reproductive isolation between them.[7] The Plants of the World Online database has accepted Eruca sativa as a distinct species.[1]
Etymology
[edit]The species name sativa is from Latin supine satum, meaning "sown, planted", indicating that the plant is cultivated in gardens.
The English common name rocket derives from French roquette, itself a borrowing from Italian ruchetta, a diminutive of ruca, from the Latin word eruca, meaning "caterpillar".[8]
"Arugula" (/əˈruːɡələ/), the common name now widespread in the United States and Canada, entered American English from a nonstandard dialect of Italian. The standard Italian word is "rucola". The Oxford English Dictionary dates the first known appearance of "arugula" in American English to a 1960 article in The New York Times by food editor and prolific cookbook writer Craig Claiborne.[9]
Similarly named plants
[edit]Rocket is sometimes conflated with Diplotaxis tenuifolia, known as 'perennial wall rocket', another plant of the family Brassicaceae that is used in the same manner. Species of Barbarea may be known as 'yellow rocket'.
Distribution and habitat
[edit]Eruca sativa is native to parts of the Mediterranean and Asia,[10] including southern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.
Ecology
[edit]The species typically grows on dry, disturbed ground. It is a source of food for the larvae of some moth species,[2][4] including the garden carpet. Its roots are susceptible to nematode infestation.[11]
As an invasive species, Eruca sativa is widespread and scattered, but is prolific and noxious in the Sonoran desert of Arizona and California.[12]
Cultivation
[edit]The plant was traditionally collected in the wild or grown in home gardens along with herbs, such as parsley and basil. Arugula is grown commercially and is naturalized as a wild plant outside its native range in temperate regions around the world, including northern Europe and North America.[2][13]
Arugula prefers full sun, cool temperatures, and moist, fertile soil.[14] Hot weather changes its flavor and stops leaf growth.[14] Seedlings are planted 6 in (15 cm) apart, and plants can self-seed in the garden.[14] Plants mature and can be harvested within 40 to 50 days, with young leaves preferred for flavor.[14]
Mild frost conditions hinder the plant's growth and turn the green leaves to red.[15][16]
| Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Energy | 105 kJ (25 kcal) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3.6 g | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sugars | 2.0 g | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dietary fibre | 1.6 g | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
0.6 g | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2.6 g | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other constituents | Quantity | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Water | 91.7 g | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| †Percentages estimated using US recommendations for adults,[17] except for potassium, which is estimated based on expert recommendation from the National Academies.[18] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Uses
[edit]Nutrition
[edit]Raw arugula is 92% water, 4% carbohydrates, 2.5% protein, and contains a negligible amount of fat (table). In a reference amount of 100 grams (3.5 oz), arugula provides 25 calories of food energy, and is a rich source (20% or more of the Daily Value, DV) of folate and vitamin K. It is also a good source (10–19% of DV) of vitamin A, vitamin C, and the dietary minerals, calcium, magnesium, manganese, and potassium (table)
Culinary
[edit]The leaves, flowers, young seed pods, and mature seeds are all edible.
Since Roman times in Italy, raw arugula has been added to salads. It often is added as a garnish to a pizza at the end of or just after baking. In Apulia, in southern Italy, arugula is cooked to make the pasta dish "cavatiéddi", "in which large amounts of coarsely chopped arugula are added to pasta seasoned with a homemade reduced tomato sauce and pecorino",[19] as well as in many recipes in which it is chopped and added to sauces and cooked dishes or in a sauce (made by frying it in olive oil with garlic). It also is used as a condiment for cold meats and fish.[19] Throughout Italy, it is used as a salad with tomatoes and with burrata, bocconcini, buffalo, or mozzarella cheese. In Rome, "rucola" is used in "straccetti", a dish of thin slices of beef with raw arugula and Parmesan cheese.[20] Arugula is also used in the rucola style of amaro produced in southern Campania in areas such as Amalfi coast, Cilento coast and Ischia; examples include See the Elephant Amaro.
In Turkey, similarly, the plant is eaten raw as a side dish or salad with fish or is served with a sauce of extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice.[21]
In Slovenia, arugula often is combined with boiled potatoes[22] or used in a soup.[23]
In West Asia, Pakistan, and northern India, Eruca seeds are pressed to make taramira oil, used in pickling and (after aging to remove acridity) as a salad or cooking oil.[24] The seed cake is also used as animal feed.[25]
Salad bowl of arugula leaves
Arugula in a savory salad
References
[edit]- 1 2 "Eruca sativa Mill". Plants of the World Online. Kew Science. Retrieved 11 March 2025.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Blamey, M. & Grey-Wilson, C. (1989). Flora of Britain and Northern Europe. ISBN 0-340-40170-2.
- ↑ "How to grow Rocket". Royal Horticultural Society. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
- 1 2 3 4 Flora of NW Europe: Eruca vesicaria Archived 14 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Kole, Chittaranjan (21 February 2011). Wild Crop Relatives: Genomic and Breeding Resources: Oilseeds. Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 978-3-642-14871-2. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
- ↑ Huxley, A., ed. (1992). New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. Macmillan ISBN 0-333-47494-5.
- ↑ Sobrino Vesperinas, Eduardo (November 1995). Aibar Lete, Joaquín (ed.). Diferencias morfológicas e interfertilidad entre las especies arvenses Eruca vesicaria (L) Cav. y E. sativa Miller. Congreso 1995, Sociedad Española de Malherbología (in Spanish). Huesca: Instituto de Estudios Altoaragoneses. pp. 153–156. ISBN 84-8127-040-7. Archived from the original on 9 September 2024. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
- ↑ Oxford English Dictionary
- ↑ Claiborne, Craig (24 May 1960). "A Green by Any Name: Pungent Ingredient Is Cause of Confusion for City Shopper; Arugula – or Rocket – Is the Secret of Experts' Salads". The New York Times. p. 33.
- ↑ Bell, Luke; Wagstaff, Carol (30 March 2019). "Rocket science: A review of phytochemical & health-related research in Eruca & Diplotaxis species". Food Chemistry: X. 1 100002. doi:10.1016/j.fochx.2018.100002. ISSN 2590-1575. PMC 6690419.
- ↑ "Arugula: Arugula". smartgardener.com.
- ↑ "Eruca vesicaria (garden-rocket): Go Botany". gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
- ↑ "Eruca vesicaria subsp. sativa". Natural Resources Conservation Service, US Department of Agriculture. 2026. Retrieved 30 July 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 "Eruca vesicaria (Arugula, Eruca, Garden Rocket, Gharghir, Mediterranean Salad, Rocket, Rocket Salad, Roquette, Ruchtetta, Rucola, Rucoli, Rugula, Rugulas, Salad Rocket)". North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox, North Carolina State University. 2026. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
- ↑ "The Secret of the Local Red Arugula". Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
- ↑ "Minnesota Spring". Retrieved 24 May 2013.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ↑ United States Food and Drug Administration (2024). "Daily Value on the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels". FDA. Archived from the original on 27 March 2024. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
- ↑ "TABLE 4-7 Comparison of Potassium Adequate Intakes Established in This Report to Potassium Adequate Intakes Established in the 2005 DRI Report". p. 120. In: Stallings, Virginia A.; Harrison, Meghan; Oria, Maria, eds. (2019). "Potassium: Dietary Reference Intakes for Adequacy". Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium. pp. 101–124. doi:10.17226/25353. ISBN 978-0-309-48834-1. PMID 30844154. NCBI NBK545428.
- 1 2 Reilly, The Oxford Companion to Italian Food, p. 446
- ↑ "Beef Strips with Rocket – Straccetti con la Rucola". thefoodellers.com. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
- ↑ "Oktay Usta'dan Roka Salatası Resimli Tarifi". Archived from the original on 24 June 2015. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
- ↑ "Solata s krompirjem in rukolo". dnevnik.si.
- ↑ "Krompirjeva juha z rukolo". zurnal24.
- ↑ G.J.H. Grubben and O.A. Denton, ed. (2004). "Vegetables". Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Vol. 2. PROTA. p. 295. ISBN 90-5782-147-8.
- ↑ Das, Srinabas; Kumar Tyagi; Harjit Kaur (2004). "Evaluation of taramira oil-cake and reduction of its glucosinolate content by different treatments". Indian Journal of Animal Sciences. 73 (6): 687–691.
External links
[edit]
- Joel Denker, "The 'Lascivious' Leaf: The Allure of Arugula", Food in the 'Hood (published 11 August 2012), in The Intowner.
- Ezra Klein, "Arugula", The American Prospect, 7 October 2008.
- John Schwenkler, "Eating arugula has become a political act: Conservative thinker is branded a closet liberal based on the food he eats". Earth Matters, MNN (Mother Nature Network), March 2009. Mr. Schwenkler's article originally appeared in Plenty magazine in October 2008.
- David Kamp, The United States of Arugula: How We Became a Gourmet Nation, New York: Clarkson Potter (2006). Archived 18 February 2020 at the Wayback Machine