(Lepidium meyenii)

Not a day goes by without us coming across reports about foodstuffs that have exceptional nutritional properties, brimming with anti-oxidants, polyphenols, vitamins and minerals. Some research shows that including them in our daily diet reduces the risk of developing chronic diseases, increases our life expectancy and quality of life, makes us more resistant to viruses and helps us maintain our desired body weight more easily. Such foods have been named super foods. Today, more than ever before we can find a great variety of foodstuffs from all corners of the world in our shops. Even though we must not overlook locally-grown produce which has been feeding generations of our ancestors, it is worth trying something new, brought to us from a far-flung place, such as this super food from Peru – golden maca.

Golden maca is a tuber plant that has been grown in the Andes for over 3,000 years. The first written records of it date back to 1533, when Pedro Cieza de Leon, the official chronicler of the Spanish conquerors of Peru, described the province of present-day Junin in the Peruvian Andes and the natives who used “certain roots” for food. The first to mention the specific name of golden maca was Padre (Father) Cobo in 1653; he described it as growing in the harshest and coldest parts of the province of Chinchaycocha, where nothing else could be grown that could be used as food. Cobo mentioned the use of maca as an aphrodisiac and to improve fertility, while later chroniclers also described its stimulating effect, i.e. its ability to raise energy and improve mood. Maca is really a tough old mountain dweller: after it is dug up and dried, it lasts for years. Its dried root is hard as a stone, so it must be boiled before consumption, while its active metabolites increase by cooking, similar to tomatoes which have a higher level of lycopene after cooking. Maca powder is obtained by grinding the roots.