Common name: Peruvian ginseng, maca, Maka, pepperweed.
Scientific name: Lepidium meyenii .
Synonyms: Lepidium peruvianum .
Family: Brassicaceae, Cruciferae, Brassicaceae.
Description of Maca
Maca (Lepidium meyenii) is a biennial herbaceous plant, between 10-20 (up 30) inches in
height. During the first year of planting, maca growing season remains for 8-9 months.
During this period, it develops its underground part, consisting of a hypocotyl or
underground reserve organ and its roots.
The hypocotyl is the edible part of the plant. It has a meaty texture and a rounded,
globose, napiform and axonomorf form. It is integrated in the root tissue and ends in a
thick central root, with lateral roots having numerous absorbent hairs.
It grows as a rosette, stem short and barely visible due to the dense foliage. Leaves
small, compound, with enlarged leaf sheath and composed limb , 6-9 centimeters long .
Petiole long with the top flattened. The inflorescence is composed of axillary racemes
with tiny flowers, hermaphrodite, actinomorphic and light green. The fruit of maca are
two seed pods, separated by a partition that divides the fruit into two equal parts. The
seeds are orange, yellow or brown.
Maca, irrigation
During the first months of its vegetative phase, the plant needs watering, so it must be
planted in the rainy season.
However, maca is a rainfed crop, and develops in the summer months when rainfall is
lower.
Maca, flowering
Maca is a biennial plant that blooms in the summer of their second year of growth
between October and November.
Maca, harvest
Harvesting of Maca hypocotyls, which are intended both to food production as a dietary
supplement, comes at the end of the vegetative stage of the plant, at 6-9 months after
harvest. In the southern hemisphere, this happens between the months of May and mid
July, before the development of aerial parts of the plant.
The fruit of the plant has to be harvested in summer, between December and February
the second year, when the plant is mature. This is known because no flower appear in
the inflorescence and the fruit pods are at the basal part . When most foliage is yellow, it
must be harvested. Harvesting should be done manually or with the help of a pickaxe.
Maca is a culture that impoverishes the soil, so that the land needs to rest for 10 years.
Maca, storage
The seeds should be stored in a dry place until planting, which will be between
September and November of the same year. Performance is usually about 0.4 to 0.5 kg.
per square meter of crop.
You should not pile up large amounts of maca hypocotyls because this increased
temperature and promotes postharvest losses.
Maca must be dried for 2-3 days until the leaves are dry ,while the dry leaves must be
removed to avoid contamination .Then , they have to be kept in plastic baskets or reseed in pools.
A month later , they have to be stored in bags in a cool and dry place with low humidity.
Maca, pests and diseases
Maca is resistant to virtually all types of pests and diseases.
In its early crop, maca can be attacked by: Premnotrypes sp. Hymeli (Andean weevil),
Agrotis sp. Feltia spp. Peronospora (downy mildew), Fusarium and Rhizoctonia.
During storage or transport, it can be attacked by moths.
Maca, climate
Maca is a plant native to the Andes Mountains, which grows naturally in the ecological
zone called Puna or High Andean tundra, located between 3,800 and 4,450 meters above
the sea level.
The optimum temperatures for mark range between 4 ° and 7 ° C on average ( About
-10 ° C night temperatures and 22 º C during the day)
Frost hardy to -20 ° C. In case the plant can be burnt by ice, you should cover it at
night.
Maca, soil
Maca grows in extreme acid soils characteristic of the Andes, with a pH below 5.
Land sandy loam, without salinity. It can grow in rocky places. It requires fertilized soils
with high organic matter, phosphorus and potassium.
To prepare the ground, the soil should be loose, with plenty of organic matter.
Maca, sowing
Maca seed is sown in late winter or early spring when frosts end and begin the rainy
season. This happens between September and November in the southern hemisphere.
The seeds should be mixed with organic matter and planted at bowling. About 100g.
seeds for 15 square meters are required . It takes 20-25 days to germinate.
Over the next 8-9 months, maca remains in a vegetative state until tuberous roots are
fully developed . Typically, commercial varieties are collected at the end of the growing
season before the plant has develop its aerial parts.
From the ninth month on , maca starts to develop. At this stage, which can last
between 4 and 6 months, the plant begins to produce seeds, which will be used to
harvest the following year.
Maca can also be reproduced by transplanting its tuberous roots once its has developed
its aerial parts. It should be transplanted to a minimum distance of 70 cm.
Cultivation
Preparing the soil
Acidic soils of pH below 5. Cold weather in winter with sun exposure.
Sowing
Maca planting should be done from late winter early spring, when the rainy
season begins.
This happens between September and mid November in the southern
hemisphere.
Harvesting of hypocotyls
The commercial varieties of hypocotyls are harvested at this stage. This occurs
between May and July.
To obtain seeds, the plant should be cultivated until the second year.
Development of aerial plant parts
Between August and September of the second year, the plant develops its
stem and leaves.
At the end of this stage, its hypocotyls can be transplanted to reproduce the
plant. These are planted in September and will follow the same cycle.
Flowering
Maca blooms in spring, October and November the second year.
Fructification
The fruit of maca takes place in summer, between December and February the
second year. It is harvested in February.
Seed storage
Seed must be collected in late summer (FebruaryMarch) and stored in a dry
place until September, when planted again.