Lepidium meyenii (also known as Maca) is an annual to perennial herb or semi-shrub, often with simple hairs, glandular hairs, and columnar hairs; the stem can be single or multiple with branches. The root tuber is used for medicinal purposes.
NMM ID | nmm-0b9e |
Systematic Name | Lepidium meyenii Root-tuber |
Systematic Chinese Name | 印加萝卜块根（yìn jiā luó bo kuài gēn） |
Generic Name | Ma-ka |
Generic Chinese Name | 玛咖（mǎ kā） |
NMM Type | plant |
Species Origins | Lepidium meyenii | 印加萝卜 |
Medicinal Parts | root tuber | 块根 |
Special Descriptions | |
Processing Methods | |
Systematic Name Explanation | Lepidium meyenii (also known as Maca) is an annual to perennial herb or semi-shrub, often with simple hairs, glandular hairs, and columnar hairs; the stem can be single or multiple with branches. The root tuber is used for medicinal purposes. |
Generic Name Explanation | NMMGN adopts the common name of this traditional Chinese Natural Medicinal Material. |
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Lepidium meyenii Root-tuber(NMM-0B9E, Ma-ka)
Overview
Lepidium meyenii (also known as Maca) is an annual to perennial herb or semi-shrub, often with simple hairs, glandular hairs, and columnar hairs; the stem can be single or multiple with branches. The root tuber is used for medicinal purposes.
Morphology
1. Root Tuber
Maca is the only Lepidium species that develops a thickened hypocotyl. The hypocotyl merges with the root to form a rough, inverted-pear-shaped tuber whose size and shape vary greatly—triangular, elliptical or rectangular forms are common.
2. Colour & Cultivars
The tuber can be golden, pale yellow, red, purple, blue, black or green. Each plant is regarded as a unique genotype. Traits—especially root colour—are deliberately selected for distinct nutritional and medicinal properties. In Peru, pale-yellow roots are the most common and are considered superior in shape and flavour.
3. Leaves
Leaves are herbaceous to papery, varying from linear-lanceolate to broadly elliptic. Margins may be entire, serrate or pinnately lobed. The blades are petiolate or clasp the stem with a deeply cordate base.
4. Flowers
Racemes arise terminally or axillarily. Sepals are oblong or linear-lanceolate, slightly concave, without a saccate base and edged white or red. Petals are white—occasionally pinkish or pale yellow—linear to spatulate and shorter than the sepals, sometimes reduced or absent. Six stamens are typical, but they often regress to two or four; minute nectaries occur between their bases. The style is very short or absent with a capitate, occasionally bifid stigma, and the ovary bears two ovules.
5. Fruit & Seeds
The silique-like fruits are ovate, obovate, orbicular or elliptic and flattened, dehiscing at maturity. Valves possess a narrow septum and a keeled ridge, sometimes with small wings near the apex. Seeds are ovoid or ellipsoid, wingless or winged; cotyledons are incumbent on the radicle (rarely accumbent).
6. Dimensions
The subterranean swollen root measures 10–14 cm in length, 3–5 cm in maximum diameter and about 15 cm in girth, resembling a small radish. In nature, yellow and purple morphs predominate; the tissue is dense and firm. Fine white fibrous roots up to 15 cm extend in all directions. Aerial leaves reach 20–23 cm; blades are twice-pinnatifid with segments 8–13 cm long and ~3 cm wide. Petioles are stout and can exceed 10 cm; secondary branches grow 10–16 cm long.
Medicinal Value
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1. Mood Regulation & Sleep
Maca rapidly relieves stress, suppresses anxiety and improves sleep quality. In Peru it is prized as an herbal remedy for easing tension, dispelling worry and alleviating insomnia with excessive dreaming.
2. Cognitive Enhancement
It is reputed to clear the mind and enhance memory.
3. Energy & Anti-fatigue
Growing on barren high-altitude plateaus, maca accumulates substantial energy; a typical serving supplies a large caloric load, making it a fast-acting, fatigue-relieving tonic that rarely triggers banned-substance tests.
4. Immunity & Reproductive Health
Maca supports immunity, increases both sperm and ova number and vitality, thereby aiding conception, and can stimulate sexual function.
5. Root Colour & Effects
Darker-coloured roots—red, purple, black—contain more iodine. Black maca is regarded as a tonic for strength and stamina, tasting both sweet and slightly bitter. Red maca is popular; clinical evidence in rodents indicates it can ameliorate prostate hyperplasia.
Geographic Distribution
Native to the Andes of South America, maca is now also cultivated at high elevations in locales such as Yulong Snow Mountain in Lijiang, Yunnan, and in Tibet, China.
1. High Altitude & Low Latitude
High altitude (≥ 3 000 m) and low-latitude (25–30°) zones are required. The annual mean temperature ranges 5–10 ℃ and September highs stay ≤ 18 ℃. Lower altitudes or warmer climates increase respiration and nutrient loss, hampering tuber enlargement, reducing yield and quality, and increasing pests and diseases.
2. Large Diurnal Range & High Humidity
A diurnal temperature range of ≥ 30 ℃, strong winds and humid air are favourable. Annual rainfall should be 800–1 000 mm with 60–80 % relative humidity. From July to November soil moisture should remain 20–30 %; values < 20 % hinder growth, whereas excess water predisposes roots to rot.
3. Fertile, Unpolluted Soil
Maca is highly sensitive to soil fertility and environmental pollution; insufficient fallow periods diminish both quality and yield.
4. Acidic Soil (pH ≈ 5.0)
It thrives in acidic soil (around pH 5.0), where few other crops survive and pests are minimal.
5. Sufficient Growing Season
Regions with frozen soil from October to December cannot provide the uninterrupted growing season that maca requires.