5. Maca Uses

Parts Used:

The main edible part is the hypocotyl/root which also has medicinal use.

· Hypocotyl/root: Traditionally, it is eaten cooked, in soups. Today, the hypocotyls/roots are preferably grounded in order to obtain a flour that can be encapsulated.

Properties:

Lepidium meyenii Walp. is used as:

• anti rheumatic
• antifatigue
• antitusigen
• aphrodisiac
• energizer
• fertilizer (it is said to regulate diseases proper of the reproductive process)
• food
• immunostimulant
• memory enhancer
• menstrual
• nutritive (high)
• sexual potency magnifier revitalizant
• tonic

Lepidium meyenii Walp. is used against/for:

• anemia
• chronic constipation
• chronic fatigue syndrome
• convalescence
• female hormonal imbalances
• fertility
• growing stages (children)
• hair loosing
• increase energy
• increasing endurance in athletes
• increasing stamina
• infertility
• male impotence
• malnutrition
• memory
• menopause
• menstrual irregularities
• mental deficit
• nervine
• nervousness
• osteomalacia
• osteoporosis
• promoting mental clarity
• reestablishes physical and intellectual capacities
• rheumatism
• sexual impotence
• sterility
• stimulate hair growing
• stomach cancer
• tuberculosis
• weakness

Basically, Lepidium meyenii Walp. is a highly nutritive food although it is also used extensively for medicinal purposes. Spanish chroniclers reported in colony times that some indigenous peoples ate huge amounts of Lepidium meyenii Walp. because there was no other crop on their lands. The conquerors also found “well fed babies and tall adults” in the high Andes, which was attributed to their diet based on Lepidium meyenii Walp.

The Lepidium meyenii Walp. hypocotyl/root has a 10 to 14 percent protein and 78 percent carbohydrate content and is also rich in starch, glycosides, alkaloids and tannins. Lepidium meyenii Walp. hypocotyl/root has also a high calcium and iron content (258 mg and 15.4 mg per 100g, respectively) and are probably the main advantages of this Andean crop.

Its nutritional value is frequently increased by the way they are prepared. In Peru, a kind of cocktail or ‘chicha de maca’ is prepared with the hypocotyls/roots plus milk, bee honey, and fruits, and addition of sugarcane rum. Lepidium meyenii Walp. hypocotyls/roots can also be prepared only as juice, without alcohol.

The nutritional value of the dried hypocotyl/root of Lepidium meyenii Walp. is high, resembling that found in cereal grains such as maize, rice and wheat. Fresh hypocotyls/roots contain 80% water. Dry Lepidium meyenii Walp. hypocotyls/roots have the following composition: 59% carbohydrates, 10.2% proteins, 8.5% fiber and 2.2% lipids among a few other compounds (Dini et al. 1994).

In addition to its rich supply of essential nutrients, Lepidium meyenii Walp. contains alkaloids, tannins, and saponins. A chemical analysis conducted in 1981 showed the presence of biologically active aromatic isothiocyanates (a common chemical found in the mustard family of plants and shown to be a wood preservative and insecticide).

In early times, Lepidium meyenii Walp. was appreciated not only as nutritious food, but also as a gift to the gods along with corn and potatoes. Mountain Raco in Junín was considered the god of stewed food. In its honor, the natives buried potatoes and Lepidium meyenii Walp. there among other offerings.

Lepidium meyenii Walp. also was used in beverages with hallucinogenic products in dances and religious ceremonies (Castro de León 1990).

According to folk belief, Lepidium meyenii Walp. is an aphrodisiac which enhances sexual drive. During the times of the Tawantinsuyo, the legend says that before going to war the Incas used Lepidium meyenii Walp. to feed the warriors to increase their energy and vitality. However, after conquering a city the soldiers were prohibited to consume it as a measure to protect women from their sexual impulses.

In rural communities, there is a firm conviction that eating Lepidium meyenii Walp. increases female fertility in humans and domestic animals, which tends to be reduced at higher altitudes (León 1964). Sanchez León (1996) presents an interesting account of the role of Lepidium meyenii Walp. in the conquest of the Inca Empire.

The Spaniards when arriving in a hostile environment, such as the puna of Junín, were afraid of losing their horses because of the lack of conventional pastures and their inability to reproduce at high altitudes. They soon learned about the nutritious and fertility-enhancing properties of Lepidium meyenii Walp., allowing their horses to pasture in fields of this crop. Owing to these beliefs, Lepidium meyenii Walp. had a prominent place as a crop used to enhance the reproduction of pigs, chickens and horses.

Some investigation has been done on this, and beliefs of fertility-enhancing properties of Lepidium meyenii Walp. have been partially substantiated since 1961. That year, in an animal study, rats fed on Lepidium meyenii Walp. produced some 25 percent more offspring than control rats. A probable increasing in the development of the Graaf follicles stimulated by Lepidium meyenii Walp. has been proposed to explain this gain in fertility (Chacón 1990; Rea 1992).

Chemical analysis by Johns (1981) suggests that the fertility-enhancing properties of Lepidium meyenii Walp. may be due to the presence of biologically active aromatic isothiocyanates, and specifically due to benzyl isothiocyanate and p-methoxybenzyl isothiocyanate. The latter is also found in mashua (Tropaeolum tuberosum Ruiz and Pavon) also know as añu and isaño. This species, however, is reputed to be an antiaphrodisiac and antireproductive agent in males, but a promoter of female fertility (Johns 1981).

The first study reporting Lepidium meyenii Walp.’s effect on sexual function was published in 2000 and reported the beneficial effects of using Lepidium meyenii Walp. in impotent mice and rats. Another was published a year later, indicating similar effects in male rats. Studies in 2001 reported a beneficial effect on male sperm production in rats and improvement of sperm count and motility in nine healthy adult men. In 2002 a study reported improved sexual performance in inexperienced male rats.

The putative aphrodisiac powers of Lepidium meyenii Walp. also can be attributed to the presence of prostaglandins and sterols in the hypocotyl/root (Dini et al. 1994). However, some investigators consider the measuring of libido enhancement a highly subjective business, so that they maintain skeptical about this property.

Indigenous people are used to eat the hypocotyls/roots in soups. They can eat as much as half a kilogram per day. They also eat them in pachamancas and huatiadas. Traditionally, Lepidium meyenii Walp. is mainly eaten as food more than as a diet complement.

Commercially, flour can be prepared from Lepidium meyenii Walp. dry hypocotyls/roots for making bread, cookies, etc. Lepidium meyenii Walp. flour is also mixed with chuño (freeze-dried potatoes), oca, quinua and soybeans to prepare different dishes and dessert. Toasted and ground hypocotyls/roots are used to prepare “maca coffee” (Castro de Leon 1990).

There are only a few thousand of people in the Andean region that eat Lepidium meyenii Walp. In spite of that, today, the pharmaceutical industry is a main consumer of Lepidium meyenii Walp. and processes practically any roots that are in acceptable sanitary condition. Dried Lepidium meyenii Walp. hypocotyls/roots are ground to power and sold in drugstores in capsules as a medicine and food supplement to increase stamina and fertility.

As a result, today Lepidium meyenii Walp. hypocotyl/root is advertised as an aphrodisiac, stamina-builder and ferility-promoter. It is also often promoted as a cure for rheumatism, respiratory ailments and as a laxative.

Used as sexual male potency enhancer, some manufacturers are used to elaborate capsules from a mixture of Lepidium meyenii Walp., Jatropha macrantha “huanarpo macho” and vitamin E. Lepidium meyenii Walp. is the energizing element; Jatropha macrantha is aphrodisiac, nervine and tonic, and vitamin E contributes with the oxygenation of the blood, which favors penis erection.

Oshima M. et al (2003) demonstrated in mice that the administration of Lepidium meyenii Walp. and Jatropha macrantha increased significantly testosterone levels. However, in a 2003 double-blind placebo human trial, men taking a Lepidium meyenii Walp. Hypocotyl/root extract (1.5 g to 3 g daily) evidenced no significant changes in any reproductive hormone level tested, including testosterone (which actually showed a slight decrease!)

Other medicinal properties attributed to Lepidium meyenii Walp. are regulation of hormonal secretion, stimulation of metabolism, thyroid stimulation (and resulting weight loss), memory improvement, antidepressant activity and effectiveness in combating anemia, leukemia, AIDS, cancer and alcoholism among others. None of these properties, however, has been substantiated by scientific research. It is important to keep in mind that Lepidium meyenii Walp. hypocotyl/root is a vegetable and a main staple in the Andean indigenous diet, as beans, potatoes, and rice are elsewhere. A few miligrams of powdered hypocotyl/root probably will not produce a desirable effect.

Lepidium meyenii Walp. is also considered beneficial for hormonal balancing, endocrine and thyroid function enhancement, and even immune system enhancement. These benefits are probably related to its content of amino acids and nutrients content as well. Although hormones are chemically diverse, they are constructed simply from amino acids and cholesterol. If given sufficient levels of starting materials (natural amino acids), the body may use them as needed to construct hormones which keep the body in balance. Lepidium meyenii Walp. is rich in amino acids. That is the reason why Lepidium meyenii Walp. could be useful to enhance endocrine functions, especially in those people whose diet is poor.

Amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, could take account of some of the properties attributed to Lepidium meyenii Walp. Amino acids are required to manufacture neurotransmitters such as dopamine and noradrenaline. These substances transmit signals in the nervous system and play a major role in the process of sexual arousal and physical performance during sex. The main amino acids that these neurotransmitters require include phenylalanine, tyrosine, and histidine (all three of which are found in good supply in Lepidium meyenii Walp.). The amino acid arginine, of which Lepidium meyenii Walp. is a significant source, is thought to assist in the generation of nitric oxide—which is thought to counteract male impotence (although this is not clinically validated). Many libido- and sexual-enhancement health supplements on the market today contain arginine for this reason. Arginine has also clinically proven to play a role in male fertility through its action of increasing sperm production and motility. It is highly likely that some of the sexual and fertility effects reported were due to Lepidium meyenii Walp.’s high arginine content.

The amino acid histidine also is found in Lepidium meyenii Walp. hypocotyl/root in high amounts. This amino acid plays an often-overlooked but important role in sexual function: during ejaculation and orgasm. The body utilizes histidine to produce histamine, and histamine in the corpus cavernosum (penile erectile tissue) ultimately is responsible for the way ejaculations happen. Men suffering from premature ejaculation often show increased histamine activity; they may be helped by a simple antihistamine, or the amino acid methionine (which counteracts the formation of histamine from histidine). It is this cellular effect at play as to why one of the side effects of prescription antihistamines is anorgasmia (or the inability/difficulty to achieve an orgasm). Conversely, men and women having difficulties achieving orgasms may be helped by histidine supplementation—this may increase histamine levels in the sexual tract, which in turn make orgasms and ejaculations easier. An additional pro-sexual effect of histidine (as well as arginine) may lie in its vasodilating effect, increasing blood flow to the sex organs. Again, the significant, natural histidine content of Lepidium meyenii Walp. may have played a role in the rat studies reporting a greater number of copulations.

Finally, some glucosinolates found in Lepidium meyenii Walp. are plant chemicals known to be cancer-preventative. There are three other cultivated species in the genus Lepidium which are important (Hanelt 1986; Mabberley 1993): Lepidium sativum L., Lepidium latifolium L. and Lepidium virginicum L.

Lepidium sativum L., the “garden cress” or “land cress”, is grown worldwide and is used at the cotyledon or seedling stage as a salad component. It is also used as fodder for the livestock.

Lepidium latifolium L., “dittander”, was a cultivated salad plant of the Ancient Greeks and is used as a medicinal plant in the Canary Islands to alleviate renal lithiasis. According to studies of Navarro et al. (1994), this species has diuretic action.

Lepidium virginicum L., “poor man’s-pepper”, an American species, is used as a leafy vegetable (weed in maize) by the Tarahumara Indians in Mexico.

Chemical Composition:

• alkaloids (at least four)
• starch
• amino acids per 100 g.

• others: asparagine, glutamine.
• ash 4.9%
• beta-ecdysone
• carbohydrates (59% - 78%)
• cellulose
• phenolic compounds
• cumarins
• fats (lipids) 2.2%; per 100 g:

• fiber 8.5%
• flavonoids
• fructuose
• glucosinolates (about 1% fresh weight)
• glycosides
• benzyl isotiocianate
• isotiocionate
• levulose
• lignin
• maltose
• minerals per 100 g.

• ohers: magnesium, phosphorus
• p-methoxybenzyl isothiocyanate (it has reputed aphrodisiac properties)
• protein (10%-14%) mainly in the form of polypeptides and amino acids
• saponins
• sitosterol
• sterols 0.05% – 0.1%
• stigmasterol
• steroid substances
• tannins
• triterpens
• vitamins
  • vitamin B1
  • vitamin B2 390 mcg/100 g
  • vitamin B6 1,140 mcg/100 g
  • vitamin B12
  • vitamin C 286 mg/100 g
  • vitamin E
• calories: 325 cal/100 g