Lepidium meyenii Seeds | Maca Root
LATIN NAME: Lepidium meyenii
COMMON NAME: Maca
Plant Profile
Lepidium meyenii, commonly known as Maca, is a perennial in the cabbage family (Brassicaceae), native to high andes of the central peru. Up on high, windswept plateaus of the Peruvian Andes, where few crops will grow, maca thrives. Beneath ground it forms a fleshy, rounded root, often branched or pear-shaped, that has been dug and eaten by people of the high Andes for a very long time. Each of these traits is modest on its own; together they make a garden-worthy plant.
Science & Biotechnology
Maca is botanically a radish relative, but its chemistry is unusual: the characteristic macamides — fatty-acid amides found in no other crop — are considered the signature constituents, alongside glucosinolates and the isothiocyanate p-methoxybenzyl isothiocyanate. In a 12-week double-blind trial in healthy men, maca improved self-reported sexual desire from week eight without altering testosterone, and a 2010 systematic review found limited but positive randomised evidence for sexual function in men and postmenopausal women. As a staple food of the high Andes it has an excellent safety record at food-level intakes.
The species features in the wider study of the cabbage family, and its traits make it a useful subject for work on germination biology, cultivation and ornamental selection. Maca has been studied as a food plant of the high Andes, and fleshy root has been looked at for its nutrients and its traditional place in highland diet. For practical purposes the message is encouraging: generations of cultivation have produced plants of predictable, well-mannered garden character.
Uses & Benefits
Gardeners value Maca for its ornamental character, and the plant also fits naturally into herb, vegetable and cutting gardens. In the high Andes maca is a lifeline of small farms. Its fleshy root has been a staple food of highland people for a very long time, eaten fresh, dried or ground, and its tough ways have made it a valued crop where little else will grow. Away from its mountains it is grown as a curiosity of cold, open garden, and its tufted, grey-green rosette is a neat, hardy plant of the border. It establishes readily and then requires nothing out of the ordinary.
Maca, Lepidium meyenii, is the famous Andean root for energy and vitality, one of the best-selling adaptogens worldwide, with human studies on stamina and mood; garden cress is its peppery, vitamin-rich salad cousin.
Growing from Seed
Sow fresh seed of Maca under ordinary good conditions. Scatter the seed evenly over a loose seed compost, cover to no more than its own depth, and keep the pot moist and bright. Prick the seedlings out once they are large enough to handle, grow them on in bright light, and plant out when conditions allow.
Our Take
A plant of high andes of the central peru, it carries that landscape’s resilience into the garden. It comes from high andes of the central peru, which is the best clue to the conditions it enjoys in cultivation. Sun, free drainage and a patient first year are all it really requires.
Related Reading
If Maca appeals to you, these related plants are worth a look: