Eruca sativa
Origin: Malta
Improvement status: Landrace
Seeds per packet: ~100
Germination tested 12/2024: 98%
Life cycle: Annual or Biennial
EFN co-founder Nate Kleinman was given seeds for this arugula in Malta by Emanuela de Giorgio, who maintains one of the Mediterranean island nation's only publicly accessible seed banks in a cabinet at her small business. Emanuela runs an adorable farm market/thrift store/community center called The Veg Box @ The Farmoury, next to the famed Il-Majjistral Nature & History Park located in the northeast corner of the main island of Malta. If you're ever in Malta, it's well worth a visit!
This arugula produces good-sized leaves with purple mid-ribs on drought-tolerant plants. It is beefier and slower to bolt than many other commonly available arugulas, with a strong, spicy flavor. The plant is an ancient Mediterranean vegetable, so we believe there's a good chance this is an old landrace from Malta, but we can't be certain (it came to us from a glass jar in Emanuela's cabinet simply labeled "Rucola", another name for arugula). Regardless of its origin, it is well-adapted to Malta's desert climate but also thrived for our grower Jason Mills in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
Little-known fact: Since at least ancient Roman times, arugula has been considered a potent aphrodisiac! The poet Virgil, in his Moretum, wrote "et Venerem revocans eruca morantem" ("and the arugula, which revives drowsy Venus [sexual desire]"). Perhaps for this reason, it was forbidden to be grown in some religious monastaries during the Middle Ages. Author Gillian Riley, in her 2007 book the Oxford Companion to Italian Food, wrote that due to its reputation as a sexual stimulant, arugula was long "prudently mixed with lettuce," which has a reputation for producing opposite effects (even making people sleepy).
The leaves, flowers, young seed pods and seeds of arugula are all edible. In India, arugula seeds are pressed into an oil called "Taramira Oil," which is used in pickling and as a salad or cooking oil.
