Of the many different kinds of microgreens, the arugula microgreen is one of the few with a very distinctive taste. It is peppery but not spicy, just enough flavor to make it a great food to eat. It is delicious on its own and when mixed with other microgreens, which is why it is a favorite when making microgreen salad mixes.
Classification Information:
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Brassicales
Family: Brassicaceae
Genus: Eruca
Species: E. vesicaria
Binomial name: Eruca vesicaria
Arugula Microgreen Trivia
- Aerofarms Newark made the Guinness World Records by becoming the world’s largest vertical farm. They grow a wide variety of greens, including arugula.
- The arugula microgreen is one of the many different kinds of microgreens grown today, with over 25 different types.
- Arugula is also known as “rocket’ or “garden rocket”. In some parts of the world, arugula is called rucola, roquette, or colewort.
Arugula Microgreen Buying Guide
Arugula microgreens are sold in groceries, supermarkets, farmers’ markets, and other specialty stores. Ask around for local growers so that you can source your arugula microgreens locally. When buying arugula microgreens, buy just enough that you can eat until the next grocery day, since arugula microgreens do not keep for longer than a week even if stored in the refrigerator.
If this is the first time you are buying arugula microgreens, try to buy in small quantities first so that you can taste it; should you not like it, you don’t have a lot of arugula microgreens to dispose of and you are not being wasteful (you can ask your neighbors if they want it, so someone else can eat it).
When buying, make sure to inspect it thoroughly. See if the leaves and stems are of good quality and appear fresh. It is ok if one or two are wilted, but if most of the bunch are wilted, soggy, and do not appear fresh, do not buy it.
If you are buying seeds so that you can grow your own arugula microgreens, this will give you an idea of how many seeds you expect to get from a pack.
- 1-ounce pack contains approximately 8,000 seeds
- 4-ounce pack contains approximately 32,000 seeds
- 1-pound pack or bag contains approximately 128,000 seeds
- 5-pound pack or bag contains approximately 640,000 seeds
- 25-pound pack or bag contains approximately 3,200,000 seeds
To grow arugula microgreens, you can buy seeds in seed banks, specialty stores, or nurseries, or purchase them online.
Arugula Microgreen Production & Farming in Texas
Microgreens are grown in different kinds of mediums like soil, coconut coir, burlap, hemp, mats, biostrate, vermiculite, and rockwool, among others. Arugula microgreens will easily grow in any growing medium.
Some microgreen seeds require pre-soaking, while others don’t. For arugula microgreens, there is no need for any pre-soaking. Sprinkle the seeds on the growing tray that has a layer of soil and cover the tray. It is important that you mist your arugula microgreens daily. Mist with just enough water. Too much will result in mold. It will take 10 days minimum before your arugula microgreens are big enough for harvest. When they reach 2 inches, you can harvest them.
Blackout should be 3 to 4 days. Your arugula microgreens will be ready for light between days 4 to 5, so remove the cover of the growing tray and move to the tray in a well-lit area. Your arugula microgreens will need more water now than usual because of the heat of the sun now that the tray is exposed directly to the sun.
If you want to use fertilizer, it will be beneficial for your arugula microgreens, which will grow nonetheless even without fertilizer. Ian Warrington wrote in his 2019 book entitled Horticultural Reviews, Volume 47: “Work with arugula microgreens also showed the benefit of a pre-plant fertilizer followed by 75 to 150 mh L-1 nitrogen fertilization during production.”
There are farmers and growers in Texas who grow arugula microgreens. H2Organics in The Woodlands, My Indoor Farm in Three Rivers, Braga Farms in Irving, Dragon City Farms, Inc. in Dallas, Eat Your Greens! Organic Farm in Aubrey, Gracy’s Microgreens in Pflugerville, River Bend Remedies in San Antonio, Grand Prairie Microgreens in Grand Prairie, West Texas Farms in Odessa, Beast Mode Greens in Keller, Hoss Farms Microgreens in Southlake, Native Roots Farm in Austin, and Bella Verdi Farms in Dripping Springs.
Pesticides
There are no known or documented threats to arugula microgreens that require the use of pesticides. This is possibly because it takes just several days to plant, grow, and harvest that there is no chance for the onset of pests.
Geography
Because of grow lights and temperature-controlled rooms, it is possible to grow arugula microgreens anywhere in the world. North America is a major microgreens market. The US, Canada, and Mexico are among the top microgreen-producing countries.
Arugula is popular in the Americas, Europe, and North Africa. Because of this, we can expect them to like arugula microgreens in these places too.
Packaging
Arugula microgreens are sold in transparent plastic clamshell packaging. Sometimes, you can find arugula microgreens sold in Styrofoam or a plastic tray covered with plastic wrap.
Enjoying Arugula Microgreens
Arugula microgreens have a zesty, nutty flavor. When you eat arugula microgreens, you will notice a crunchy mouthfeel. Arugula microgreens are best eaten raw. According to the book Garden Themes: inspiring garden collections & design ideas, “Arugula makes a delicious salad, and so do arugula microgreens. They have a mildly pepper-like flavor and are pretty simple to grow within two weeks – and they are great for more than just salads. Arugula microgreens can add color, flavor, and nutrients to almost all dishes.”
Pregnant women will benefit from eating arugula microgreens because of the folate found in them.
Storage
If the arugula microgreens you bought came in clamshell packaging, use it to store arugula microgreens in the refrigerator. If, for some reason, you need to transfer your arugula microgreens to a different container, choose a plastic container with a lid. The least ideal storage is glass because it has the most condensation when in the refrigerator and the condensation contributes to the degradation of the quality of the arugula microgreens inside. Avoid putting arugula microgreens near the vent of the refrigerator because if the temperature fluctuates, it will affect the condition of the arugula microgreens. Put it on the lower shelf where the temperature is more stable.
When storing arugula microgreens, make sure that they are clean and dry. Put them in a resealable plastic bag and make sure to leave some air to avoid squishing the greens. Storing them in the refrigerator will extend their freshness by a week. After that, your harvested arugula microgreens will start to go bad.
Cooking
Arugula microgreens are a great pizza topping or use as an ingredient for any pasta dish, or salad. You can also add arugula microgreens to your egg recipes – may it be scrambled, sunny side, or hard-boiled/soft-boiled egg, arugula microgreens will make it more delicious. You can also use this as an ingredient for soup or for savory baked goods.
Nutritional Benefits:
Including arugula microgreens in your diet means giving your body calcium, folate, iron, manganese, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, vitamin A, vitamin C, and vitamin K. Arugula microgreens can also help detoxify the body, boost bone health, eyesight, and immune system, help prevent cancer, help increase metabolism, and help in weight loss.
Lucas Spake, in his 2022 book entitled Microgreens: Ultimate Guide for Growing Microgreens Indoor With Limited Space, wrote: “Arugula microgreens are a great choice for keeping your bones strong and healthy. This is because it contains approximately the same amounts of calcium compared to spinach…In contrast to spinach, it contains fewer oxalates which could prevent your body from fully absorbing calcium. Microgreens in arugula also have a high content in K-nutrition as well, which is a must to improve bone health.”
