Vol 12, Issue 3, 2019 Online - 2455-3891 Print - 0974-2441 ERUCA SATIVA LINN.: PHARMACOGNOSTICAL AND PHARMACOLOGICAL PROPERTIES AND PHARMACEUTICAL PREPARATIONS NOOR S JAAFAR 1 , IMAN S JAAFAR 2 * 1 Department of Pharmacognosy and Medicinal Plants, College of Pharmacy, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq. 2 Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, University of Almustansiriyah, Baghdad, Iraq. Email: pharm.eman.aldahan@uomustansiriyah.edu.iq Received: 22 November 2018, Revised and Accepted: 22 December 2018 ABSTRACT Eruca sativa (jarjeer) is an annual herb (family Brassicaceae), which contains a wide range of chemicals and minerals with nutraceutical and organoleptic characteristics. Jarjeer was generally used as a food and traditionally mainly consumed due to its aphrodisiac properties. This crop known to contain various phytochemicals such as flavonoids, phenolic acids, terpens, carotenoids, tannins, glycosides, saponins, sterols, alkaloids, and other secondary metabolites. In leaves, kaempferol and its derivatives, glucosativin, are the main flavonoids and glucosinolate, respectively, while erucic acid and glucoerucin are the main fatty acid and glucosinolate, respectively. Medicinally, the plant has antibacterial, antidiabetic, antihypertensive, antiplatelet, and antioxidant activity and stimulates hair growth and other effects. Trails on topical pharmaceutical preparations involve the use of E. sativa which had been done. These preparations include creams and waxs which are intended to be used for potentiating hair growth and skin fungal and bacterial infection. Keywords: Eruca sativa, Jarjeer, Erucin, Aphrodisiac, Pharmaceutical preparation, Cream, Wax. INTRODUCTION Eruca sativa is commonly known as rocket plant. The local Iraqi and Jordanian name is jarjeer [1,2]. Rocket is a member of mustard (Brassicaceae) family [3,4], originated in the Mediterranean region coast, also grown in the Middle-East, South Asia, and all over the world [5,6]. The airy tender fresh parts of plant was used in salad and occasionally cooked as a potherb [7,8], also as spice, and as a medicinal remedy for various diseases [9]. Conventionally, the plant consumed as tonic, rubefacient, astringent, digestive, laxative, emollient, stimulant, stomachic, scurvy, to increase sexual desire (aphrodisiac) [10,11] and diuretic [10,12]. Jarjeer seeds known to have high oil, protein, and glucosinolate content [13]. Taramira oil, the traditional spice, is produced from seeds [5]; erucic acid (long chain fatty acid) is the major constituent of taramira oil. Other constituents of taramira oil are oleic acid, linoleic acid, and saturated fatty acids. Taramira oil is used to sooth the skin, massage, soap production, and cooking, for salad, and as an adulterant for mustard oil to impart spicy taste to the latter. The taramira cake (by-product of oil production) is consumed as animal food. Livestock fed on taramira cake are seems to be ticks free [6,13-15]. Different phytochemicals have been identified in rocket including its seeds, among these flavonoids, phenolics, glucosinolate, Vitamin C, carotenoids, and others [2,11,16-18]. These compounds are responsible for the pharmacological activities of rocket such as antioxidant, cytoprotective, anticancer, antiulcer, diuretic, hepatoprotective, and other activities [11,19,20]. BOTONICAL DESCRIPTION Taxonomy Kingdom: Plantae Subkingdom: Tracheobionta Superdivision: Spermatophyta Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Subclass: Rosidae Order: Brassilcales Family: Brassicaceae Genus: Eruca Species: Eruca sativa Botanical name: Eruca sativa Mill [21]. Vernacular names Common names are jarjeer, salad, arugula, cultivated rocket, rocket salad, rugula or taramira, and white pepper [1,22-24]. Morphological features E. sativa is an annual herbaceous leafy oilseed plant which is rising up to 80 cm height [4,9,15] and considered as fast, cold season growing crop although it tolerates warm weather. It usually plants in Spring or Autumn in open or protected fields (greenhouses) and grow in hydroponics. Rocket also naturally scattered as weed in roadsides, waste places, corn and flax fields. This herb sustains salinity and low rainfall or drought situation. The tender leaves and shoots harvested 20–30 days after germination and then consecutively cultivated from regrowth [4,6,25,26]. E. sativa has a gaunt taproot, erect, rigid, and little branching hairy stem. Leaves have dull or faint green color, deeply cut, compound lobular shaped, rather fleshy, hairy, 5–15 cm long, “The basal leaves are petiolate (have a stem), and pinnately lobed or divided. They are somewhat pointed, lance- shaped, and deeply indented near the plant base. Leaves found along the stem are smaller” and have distinctive pungent or spicy flavor. Flowers are bisexual, white in color with purple veins, few in number, large in size, 2–4 cm in diameter, and borne on small terminal racemes. Flowers have erect sepals and the petals taper to a lean claw. Fruits are cylindrical siliquae in shape with a flattened beak 3–4 mm long. Seeds are spherical or ovoid extended from 1.5 to 2 mm, pale brown to olive green shade, and set in to 2 or 3 rows on each side [6,27-29]. PHYTOCHEMISTRY Abroad range of phytochemicals had been identified in E. sativa leaves and seeds such as fatty acids, terpenoids, phenolics, carbohydrate, alkaloid, glycosides, saponins, sterols, and others [9,17,18,30,31]. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis of petroleum ether seed extract revealed the presence of seven fatty © 2019 The Authors. Published by Innovare Academic Sciences Pvt Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons. org/licenses/by/4. 0/) DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.22159/ajpcr.2019.v12i3.30893 Review Article