Arugula is a delicious peppery leafy green with a spicy kick. A popular salad green, it adds punch and zip to fresh salads.
You might also know it as: Rocket, rugola, rugula, roquette, rucola, Italian cress, Mediterranean rocket
Taste: peppery, slightly bitter
Great in: Salads, pestos, pasta, sautés, omelettes, topping (burger or sandwich), as a bed for seafood and meat, juices, smoothies
How to store: If you’re not going to consume the arugula immediately after purchase, wrap it loosely in a thin kitchen towel and keep in an airtight container.
Health Benefits
This slightly bitter and peppery green is chock-full of nitrate – over 250mg/100g! This natural form of nitrate has amazing health properties.
Dietary nitrate protects the cardiovascular system by regulating blood flow and normalizing blood pressure.1
What’s more, when absorbed dietary nitrate is converted to nitrite which our body reduces to nitric oxide in the stomach. This nitric oxide inhibits inflammation and platelet aggregation thereby reducing the risks of atherogenesis.2
- Webb AJ, Patel N, Loukogeorgakis S, et al. (2008) Acute blood pressure lowering, vasoprotective, and antiplatelet properties of dietary nitrate via bioconversion to nitrite. Hypertension.; 51(3):784-790.
- Bailey SJ, Winyard P, Vanhatalo A, et al. (2009) Dietary nitrate supplementation reduces the O2 cost of low-intensity exercise and enhances tolerance to high-intensity exercise in humans. J Appl Physiol.; 107:1144-1155.
