Maca, Lepidium meyenii, is the only cruciferous plant native to Peru. The cruciferous plants include rapeseed (the source of canola oil), radish, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, watercress, and a number of other important food crops. Maca is grown as an annual plant and harvested not for its leaves but for its radish-like tuber, which matures within approximately seven months after seeds are planted. The root of maca can be baked and eaten fresh but is typically dried and stored, and will easily keep for years.

Little is known about the origins of maca, but the plant is believed to have been cultivated in the Junin plateau of Peru's Central Highlands as far back as 2,000 years ago. When the Spanish arrived in Peru in 1526, they began a campaign that ultimately resulted in the demise of the vast Incan Empire. The Inca were sophisticated architects, builders, and cultivators of the land. They had established a highly developed society that worshipped the sun, and their prodigious works, such as the ruins at Machu Picchu, remain among the wonders of the world to this day. Among the many treasures held by the Inca and garnered by the Spanish was maca.

When Spanish conquistadors ventured into the high altitude of Peru's Central Highlands, they became concerned for the health and fertility of their livestock, especially their horses. In the highlands there were no grasslands for grazing, and the thin air and hostile climate caused a precipitous drop in animal fertility. The Inca recommended that the Spanish feed their horses the root-like maca, which grew abundantly in the area. The Spanish followed this advice, and were thus able to keep their horses well nourished and bring their fertility back to normal. The Spanish were deeply impressed by this.

To their surprise, the Spanish found strong, healthy babies and adults in the hostile highlands, a condition attributable to a diet consisting mostly of maca. The Inca, and subsequently the Spanish, used maca as a staple food, and fed it to livestock. The Spanish didn't take long to figure out that whatever it was in maca that enhanced animal fertility might likely promote a sexual effect in humans. The Inca considered maca to be a gift from the gods, along with potatoes and corn. The Spanish considered maca a worthy aphrodisiac.

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 from as far back as five hundred years ago, maca's reputation for enhancing strength, libido and fertility was already well established in Peru.

Today maca is becoming increasingly popular in Peru among native and non-native people, and the effects of maca are creating market demand in Japan, Europe and the United States. Maca cultivation is on the increase, a number of government experts and agencies are actively promoting maca agriculture and development, and maca is poised to be a major botanical product on the international herbal scene.

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