Eruca vesicaria

Rocket or arugula (American English) (Eruca vesicaria; syns. Eruca sativa Mill., E. vesicaria subsp. sativa (Miller) Thell., Brassica eruca L.) is an edible annual plant in the family Brassicaceae used as a leaf vegetable for its fresh, tart, bitter, and peppery flavor. Other common names include garden rocket[1] (in Britain, Australia, South Africa, Ireland and New Zealand),[2] and eruca.[2] It is also called "ruchetta", "rucola", "rucoli", "rugula", "colewort", and "roquette". Eruca sativa, which is widely popular as a salad vegetable, is a species of Eruca native to the Mediterranean region, from Morocco and Portugal in the west to Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and Turkey in the east.[3][2]

Eruca vesicaria
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Brassicales
Family: Brassicaceae
Genus: Eruca
Species:
E. vesicaria
Binomial name
Eruca vesicaria

Description
Leaves

Eruca vesicaria is an annual plant growing to 20 to 100 centimetres (8 to 40 inches) 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 yellow. The fruit is a siliqua (pod) 12 to 25 mm (1⁄2 to 1 in) long with an apical beak, containing several seeds (which are edible). The species has a chromosome number of 2n = 22.[2][1][4]

Name

The Latin adjective sativa in the plant's binomial name is derived from satum, the supine of the verb sero, meaning "to sow", indicating that the seeds of the plant were sown in gardens. Eruca sativa differs from E. vesicaria in having early deciduous sepals.[1] Some botanists consider it a subspecies of Eruca vesicaria: E. vesicaria subsp. sativa.[1] Still others do not differentiate between the two.[5]

The English common name rocket derives from the Italian word Ruchetta or rucola, a diminutive of the Latin word eruca, which once designated a particular plant in the family Brassicaceae (probably a type of cabbage).[6] Arugula (/əˈruːɡələ/), the common name now widespread in the United States and Canada, entered American English from a non-standard dialect of Italian. The standard Italian word is rucola. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the first appearance of "arugula" in American English to a 1960 article in The New York Times by food editor and prolific cookbook writer Craig Claiborne.[7]

It is sometimes conflated with Diplotaxis tenuifolia, known as "perennial wall rocket", another plant of the family Brassicaceae that is used in the same manner.

Synonyms[8]
Inflorescence and young fruits of rucola
  • Brassica eruca L.
  • Brassica erucoides Hornem.
  • Brassica erucoides Roxb.
  • Brassica lativalvis Boiss.
  • Brassica pinnatifida Desf.
  • Brassica turgida Pers.
  • Brassica uechtritziana Janka
  • Brassica vesicaria L.
  • Crucifera eruca E.H.L.Krause
  • Eruca aurea Batt.
  • Eruca cappadocica Reut.
  • Eruca cappadocica Reut. ex Boiss.
  • Eruca deserti Pomel
  • Eruca drepanensis Caruel
  • Eruca eruca (L.) Asch. & Graebn. nom. inval.
  • Eruca foetida Moench
  • Eruca glabrescens Jord.
  • Eruca grandiflora Cav.
  • Eruca lanceolata Pomel
  • Eruca latirostris Boiss.
  • Eruca longirostris Uechtr.
  • Eruca longistyla Pomel
  • Eruca oleracea J.St.-Hil.
  • Eruca orthosepala (Lange) Lange
  • Eruca permixta Jord.
  • Eruca pinnatifida (Desf.) Pomel
  • Eruca ruchetta Spach
  • Eruca sativa Mill.
  • Eruca stenocarpa Boiss. & Reut.
  • Eruca sylvestris Bubani
  • Euzomum hispidum Link
  • Euzomum sativum Link
  • Euzomum vesicarium (L.) Link
  • Raphanus eruca (L.) Crantz
  • Raphanus vesicarius (L.) Crantz
  • Sinapis eruca (L.) Clairv.
  • Sinapis eruca (L.) Vest
  • Velleruca longistyla Pomel
  • Velleruca vesicaria (L.) Pomel

Ecology

Eruca vesicaria typically grows on dry, disturbed ground. It is used as a food by the larvae of some moth species,[2][1] including the garden carpet, and its roots are susceptible to nematode infestation.[9]

Cultivation and history

A pungent, leafy green vegetable resembling a longer-leaved and open lettuce, Eruca vesicaria is rich in vitamin C and potassium.[10] In addition to the leaves, the flowers, young seed pods and mature seeds are all edible.

Flower of Eruca vesicaria

Grown as an edible and popular herb in Italy since Roman times, it was mentioned by various ancient Roman classical authors as an aphrodisiac,[11][12] most famously in a poem long ascribed to the famous 1st century Roman poet Virgil, Moretum, which contains the line: "et Venerem revocans eruca morantem" ("and the rocket, which revives drowsy Venus [sexual desire]"),[13] and in the Ars Amatoria of Ovid.[14] Some writers assert that for this reason during the Middle Ages it was forbidden to grow rocket in monasteries.[15] It was listed, however, in a decree by The holy Roman emperor Charlemagne of 802 as one of the pot herbs suitable for growing in gardens.[16] Gillian Riley, author of the Oxford Companion to Italian Food, states that because of its reputation as a sexual stimulant, it was "prudently mixed with lettuce, which was the opposite" (i.e., calming or even soporific). Riley continues that "nowadays rocket is enjoyed innocently in mixed salads, to which it adds a pleasing pungency",[17] though Norman Douglas insisted that “Salad rocket is certainly a stimulant”.[18]

Rocket was traditionally collected in the wild or grown in home gardens along with such herbs as parsley and basil. It is now grown commercially in many places, and is available for purchase in supermarkets and farmers' markets throughout the world. It is also naturalised as a wild plant away from its native range in temperate regions around the world, including northern Europe and North America.[19][2] In India, the mature seeds are known as Gargeer. This is the same name in Arabic, جِرْجِير (jirjīr), but used in Arab countries for the fresh leaves.

Mild frost conditions hinder the plant's growth and turn the green leaves red.[20][21]

Uses
Seed pods

Since Roman times in Italy, raw rocket has been added to salads. It is often added to a pizza at the end of or just after baking. It is also used cooked in Apulia, in southern Italy, to make the pasta dish cavatiéddi, "in which large amounts of coarsely chopped rocket are added to pasta seasoned with a homemade reduced tomato sauce and pecorino",[22] as well as in "many unpretentious recipes in which it is added, chopped, to sauces and cooked dishes" or in a sauce (made by frying it in olive oil and garlic) used as a condiment for cold meats and fish.[22] It is often combined with boiled potatoes[23] or used in a soup.[24] Throughout Italy it is used as a salad with tomatoes, and with either burrata, bocconcini, buffalo and mozzarella cheese. In Rome, rucola is used in straccetti, a dish of thin slices of beef with raw rocket and Parmesan cheese.

In Turkey, similarly, the rocket is eaten raw as a side dish or salad with fish, but is additionally served with a sauce of extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice.[25]

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.[26] The seed cake is also used as animal feed.[27]

Nutrition
Arugula, raw
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy105 kJ (25 kcal)
3.6 g
Sugars2.0 g
Dietary fiber1.6 g
0.6 g
2.6 g
VitaminsQuantity %DV†
Vitamin A equiv.
15%
119 μg
13%
1424 μg
3555 μg
Vitamin A2373 IU
Thiamine (B1)
4%
0.044 mg
Riboflavin (B2)
7%
0.086 mg
Niacin (B3)
2%
0.305 mg
Vitamin B6
6%
0.073 mg
Folate (B9)
24%
97 μg
Vitamin C
18%
15 mg
Vitamin E
3%
0.43 mg
Vitamin K
103%
108.6 μg
MineralsQuantity %DV†
Calcium
16%
160 mg
Copper
4%
0.076 mg
Iron
11%
1.46 mg
Magnesium
13%
47 mg
Manganese
15%
0.321 mg
Phosphorus
7%
52 mg
Potassium
8%
369 mg
Sodium
2%
27 mg
Zinc
5%
0.47 mg
Other constituentsQuantity
Water91.7 g
Full Link to USDA database entry
†Percentages are roughly approximated using US recommendations for adults.
Source: USDA FoodData Central

Raw arugula is 92% water, 4% carbohydrates, 2.5% protein, and contains negligible fat. Although a 100-gram (3 1⁄2-ounce) reference serving provides only 105 kilojoules (25 kilocalories) of food energy, arugula has a high nutritional value, especially when fresh, frozen, steamed, or quickly boiled. It is a rich source (20% or more of the Daily Value, DV) of folate and vitamin K. Arugula is also a good source (10-19% of DV) of vitamin A, vitamin C, and the dietary minerals calcium, magnesium, and manganese.

References
  1. Flora of NW Europe: Eruca vesicaria Archived 2007-10-14 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Blamey, M. & Grey-Wilson, C. (1989). Flora of Britain and Northern Europe. ISBN 0-340-40170-2.
  3. Med-Checklist: Eruca sativa.
  4. Huxley, A., ed. (1992). New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. Macmillan ISBN 0-333-47494-5.
  5. "Flora Europaea Search Results". rbge.org.uk.
  6. Oxford English Dictionary
  7. Claiborne, Craig (May 24, 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.
  8. The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Species, retrieved 11 May 2016
  9. "Arugula: Arugula". smartgardener.com.
  10. NutritionData.com, Arugula, Raw
  11. Upton, Julie, RD. "7 Foods for Better Sex". Health.com. Retrieved July 5, 2010.
  12. Wright, Clifford A. (2001). Mediterranean Vegetables. Harvard Common Press. p. 27. ISBN 9781558321960.
  13. Virgil, 102 Moretum: 85. Joseph J. Mooney in his 1916 English translation, "The Salad", calls it "colewort" and notes, "The Latin moretum, which is usually translated "salad", would be better called "cheese and garlic paste", i.e., pesto. See The Minor Poems of Vergil: Comprising the Culex, Dirae, Lydia, Moretum, Copa, Priapeia, and Catalepton (Birmingham: Cornish Brothers, 1916), scanned as part of Appendix Vergiliana: The Minor Poems of Virgil in English Translation on the website Virgil.org.
  14. Ovid, The Love Poems (Oxford 2008) p. 119
  15. Padulosi, Pignone D., Editors, Rocket: A Mediterranean Crop for the World (International Plant Genetic Resources Institute,1997), p. 41.
  16. Helen Morgenthau Fox, Gardening With Herbs for Flavor and Fragrance (1933, reprinted New York: Dover, 1970), p. 45. See also Denise Le Dantec and Jean-Pierre Le Dantec, Reading the French Garden: Story and History (MIT Press, 1998), p. 14.
  17. Gillian Riley, The Oxford Companion to Italian Food (Oxford University Press, 2008), p. 446.
  18. Ovid, The Love Poems (Oxford 2008) p. 232
  19. USDA Plants Profile: Eruca vesicaria subsp. sativa
  20. "The Secret of the Local Red Arugula". Archived from the original on February 2, 2014. Retrieved May 24, 2013.
  21. "Minnesota Spring". Archived from the original on June 30, 2013. Retrieved May 24, 2013.
  22. Reilly, The Oxford Companion to Italian Food, p. 446
  23. "Solata s krompirjem in rukolo". dnevnik.si.
  24. "Krompirjeva juha z rukolo". zurnal24.
  25. "Oktay Usta'dan Roka Salatası Resimli Tarifi". Archived from the original on 2015-06-24. Retrieved 2015-04-16.
  26. G.J.H. Grubben and O.A. Denton, ed. (2004). "Vegetables". Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. 2. p. 295. ISBN 90-5782-147-8.
  27. 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.
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