Arugula (Eruca vesicaria), also known as rocket, garden rocket, rocket salad, rugola, rucola , roquette and rughetta , is a type of leaf vegetable, which looks like a longer leaved and open lettuce. Rocket is a herbaceaus annual or perennial; a member of the mustard family (Brassicaceae: Cruciferae). It is rich in vitamin C and iron.
Arugula has been grown as a vegetable in the Mediterranean area since Roman times, and was considered an aphrodisiac. Before the 1990s it was usually collected in the wild and was not cultivated on a large scale and not scientifically researched until the 1990s. Today, it is cultivated in various places, especially in Veneto, Italy, but is available throughout the world. It is frequently cultivated, although domestication cannot be considered complete. A wild type, known as subspecies vesicaria, is also rather well represented in the Mediterranean flora.