Maca Root Lepidium meyenii

LATIN NAME: Lepidium meyenii

COMMON NAME: Maca

Up on the high, windswept plateaus of the Peruvian Andes, where few crops will grow, the maca thrives. It grows as a low, rosette-forming perennial of the cabbage family, with the tufted, deeply cut, grey-green leaves held close to the ground and, through the short, bright summer, the small, greenish-white flowers carried in short, rounded heads, followed by the small, dry pods of the tiny seeds. Beneath the ground it forms a fleshy, rounded root, often branched or pear-shaped, that has been dug and eaten by the people of the high Andes for a very long time. It is a species of the flowering herb in the cabbage family, native to the high Andes of the central Peru, and it is known as the maca.

The maca belongs to the cabbage family, Brassicaceae, and it is a low, rosette-forming perennial herb of the high Andes of the central Peru. It grows where the nights are cold and the air is thin, and it is one of the few crops that will ripen at such an altitude. It is known as the maca, and it is treasured for its fleshy, nutritious root.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The maca has been studied as a food plant of the high Andes, and the fleshy root has been looked at for its nutrients and its traditional place in the highland diet. The plant has been written about in the food and botanical papers as a hardy, cold-resistant crop of the high altitude, and its cultivation on the harsh, thin-soiled plateaus has been studied carefully. The root has long been dried and used in the traditional ways of the region, and its chemistry has kept the interest of the researchers. The maca is best understood as a traditional food of the high Andes, and the plant has been studied for its toughness and its place in the highland farming. With such a harsh, high home behind it, the maca has built a steadily growing record of study.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

In the high Andes the maca is a lifeline of the small farms. Its fleshy root has been a staple food of the 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 the cold, open garden, and its tufted, grey-green rosette is a neat, hardy plant of the border. The maca’s toughness has made it a plant of growing interest beyond the Andes, and its fleshy root remains a traditional food of the region. In the cold garden the maca is an easy, intriguing crop. Sow the tiny seeds on the surface of pots of fine, sandy compost and press them in without covering them, keep the pots cool and evenly moist in a bright, sheltered spot, and the first fine seedlings will be up within a couple of weeks.

Uses: Medicine