The efficacy and function of arugula

Arugula is something that many people are very familiar with. The benefits that arugula brings to us are not available in other foods. So what are the effects of arugula? Let’s find out below.

[Other names] Jintang tengli, tenglizi, and bitter tengli.

[Source] Medicinal material source: the seeds of arugula, a plant of the cruciferous family.

[Original form] Arugula is an annual herb with a plant height of 20-90cm. The stem is erect, often branched at the top, sparsely covered with white stiff hairs or nearly hairless. The petiole is 2-4cm long; the leaves are fleshy and the leaf shape varies. The basal leaves and leaves on the lower part of the stem are pinnate-lobed, pinnatifid or unlobed, 5-12cm long and 2-7cm wide. The top lobes of the pinnate-lobed leaves are nearly oblong or ovate, with blunt teeth, and the lateral lobes are ovate, triangular-ovate or rectangular, with entire margins. The upper surface of the leaves is smooth and glabrous, with only sparse soft hairs on the lower veins. The upper leaves are sessile, the leaf blades are nearly oblong, 4-6cm long, 1.5-2cm wide, with 1-3 pairs of lobes at the bottom, and the leaves at the top of the stem are broadly elliptical or oblong, often deeply pinnate-lobed. The racemes grow at the top of the branches, with large, smelly flowers, and pedicels 2mm long and with long soft hairs; 4 sepals, oblong or broadly lanceolate, brown-purple or yellow-green, with spider-like long soft hairs on the outside; 4 petals, yellow, creamy yellow or gradually turning to white, obround, 1.5-2cm long, with purple-brown veins, and with gradually narrowed long claws at the base; 6 stamens, nearly equal in length; 1 pistil, ovary slender columnar, about 9mm long, style not obvious, stigma capitate. The silique is cylindrical, 2-3cm long, with glabrous lobes or white flat thorn-like hairs, a distinct midrib, and a flat sword-shaped beak at the tip of the silique, 7-9mm long; the lobes split when the fruit is ripe. The seeds are arranged in 2 rows in each chamber, are nearly spherical or ovoid, and are yellow-brown. The flowering period is March-April, and the fruiting period is April-June.

[Habitat distribution] Ecological environment: cultivated or grown on sunny slopes, grasslands, roadsides, wheat fields, and ditches below 3100m above sea level.

[Properties] Characteristics identification: The seeds are nearly spherical or oval, with a diameter of 1.5-2mm. The surface is yellow-brown, slightly shiny, with fine texture and two vertical rows of shallow grooves. After removing the seed coat, two thick cotyledons can be seen, which are oily. It has a faint smell and tastes slightly spicy and bitter.

[Chemical composition] The seeds contain fatty oil, which includes palmitic acid, palmitoleic acid, stearic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, linolenic acid, erucic acid, arachidonic acid and arachidic acid; it also contains sinapine and glucosinolate. The leaves contain isorhamnetin and isorhamnetin-3-glucoside.

【Nature and flavor】 Pungent; bitter; cold

【Meridian】 Lung; Bladder

【Functions and indications】It can relieve gas and promote the flow of water; it can eliminate phlegm and relieve asthma. Mainly used for cough and wheezing caused by phlegm accumulation; edema; ascites

[Usage and Dosage] For oral use: decoction, 6-12g. If taken as pills or powder, the dosage should be reduced accordingly.

【Note】 Do not take this medicine if you have asthma and cough due to lung deficiency, or edema due to spleen and kidney yang deficiency.

【Excerpt】 Chinese Materia Medica

Knowing the effects and functions of arugula, for most friends, if you feel you need it, you might as well eat some of it in your daily life. I believe it will effectively improve your condition. However, in order to ensure the effect after consumption, please be sure to consume it according to the requirements and avoid some bad living habits so that you can get the expected effect.