What is Maca?
Maca, Lepidium meyenii, is an annual plant which produces a
radish-like root. The root of maca is typically dried and stored,
and will easily keep for seven years. The plant is cultivated
in the Junin plateau of Peru's Central Highlands, and was highly
revered by the Inca.
During the height of the Incan empire, legend has it that Incan
warriors would consume maca before entering into battle. This
would make them fiercely strong. But after conquering a city
the Incan soldiers were prohibited from using maca, to protect
the conquered women from their powerful sexual impulses. Thus
as far back as 500 years ago, maca's reputation for enhancing
strength, libido and fertility was already well established
in Peru.
Today, maca's popularity is very much on the increase, as people
discover that the plant really does boost libido, sexual function
and overall energy. Acreage in Peru dedicated to Maca cultivation
is increasing every year to meet demand, and a number of scientists
have turned their attention to the properties of the root. In
Peru, maca is used by men and by women who want to put more
fire into their sex lives. And in the U.S., Europe and Japan,
dietary supplements containing maca are gaining ardent devotees.
History and facts of Maca
Maca's cultivation goes back perhaps five millenia. It was
an integral part of the diet and commerce of the high Andes
regions. When they controlled that particular South American
area, the Incas found maca so potent that they restricted
its use to their Royalty's court. Upon overrunning the Inca
people, conquering Spaniards became aware of this plant's
value and collected tribute in maca roots for export to Spain.
Maca was used as an energy enhance and for nutrition by the
Spanish Royalty as well. But eventually knowledge for maca's
special qualities died out, being preserved only in a few
remote Peruvian communities.
In the 1960's and later in the 1980's, German and North American
scientists researching botanicals in Peru, rekindled interest
in maca through nutritional analyses of what was designated
as 'the lost crop of the Andes'. The publication of a book
by that name introduced maca to the world. At an international
conference in 1991, the Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO) of the United nations recommended that Peruvians should
return to eating traditional, native Andean foods. Maca was
included in the FAO list as a means of combating nutritional
problems being caused by people switching to processed foods
and high-sugar drinks. The reintroduction of maca has established
healthy eating once again in the Peruvian diet.
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