MACA
(Lepedium meyenii Walp)
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Common name:
Maca
Other names:
Maka, maca-maca, maino, ayak, chichira, ayak willku, huto-huto.
Botanical Description:
It is an annual herbaceous plant. The root is tuberose -i.e., swollen- a word
that comes from tuber in Latin. Its stems are underground and measure 10
to 14 cm in length and 3 to 5 cm in diameter in the widest part; they measure
15 cm in circumference. The plant presents a big quantity of white rootlets
reaching up to 15 cm in length, extended in all directions. With hard consistency,
it is found in two types of colors: yellow and purple.
Its main stem is reduced, almost imperceptible.
Its leaves are extreme basal and measure 20 to 23 cm in length. Their petioles
are strong and can reach over 10 cm in length. Its scalloped leaves lean towards
the ground.
The limb is bipinnatifid, 8 to 13 cm long and 3 cm wide in the distal part.
The secondary stems form the branches and are 10 to 16 cm long.
The leaves are reduced caulinar, alternate and spread. The bases are 5 cm long
and are bipinnatifid, the intermediate ones are 3 cm long and are also bipinnatifid,
and the apical ones, slightly parted, are 1 to 2 cm long.
The inflorescence is in simple, short, apical and axillary raceme. There are
also axillary flowers that do not form a raceme.
The flower is small, complete and hypogynous; i.e., the calyx, corolla, stamens
and the pistil grow from beneath the gyneceum on the floral receptacle. It
is actinomorphic.
The calyx has imbricate praefloration, with four free ovate, elliptical and
concave sepals, measuring 1,2 to 1,4 mm in length and 0,7 to 0,8 mm in width.
It is light green and has off-white borders.
The corolla has four free linear white petals alternating the sepals, which
are slightly bent towards the apex, 1,4 to 1,6 mm long. The androecium has
six tetradynamous stamens, two of them are fertile, with elongated and thick
filament, basifixed dithecal anthers, with longitudinal dehiscence and ovate
yellow pollen grains. The four remaining stamens are tiny and sterile, and
are arranged at both sides of the fertile ones.
The gyneceum is syncarpous and the ovary, 1,5 mm long, formed by two joined
carpels, is bicarpellary, bilocular and superior with two anatropous ovules
having apical axillary placentation. The style is very reduced and the stigma
is globose and papillose, with tiny papillas.
The silicle fruit is dry, slightly marginated in the apex, 2,8 to 3,3 mm long
and 2,5 mm wide, with only one seed in each cell. Its longitudinal dehiscence
follows the direction of the partition, which is membranous. When ripe, the
dry pericarp separates in three portions and the persisting central portion
has linked seeds. The central part is the septum and the two portions are the
valves. The seed is ovoid (floral formula K2-2,Co 4:A 2-4: G(2).
The Cruciferae family presents 350 kinds and over 2500 species. Twenty of these
kinds are known in the Peruvian wildlife. Thirteen species are known within
the Lepidium kind. The Lepidium meyenii species is found is the Andean zones
of different countries of South America.
Chemical Composition:
The roots are the edible or usable part of this plant. They are consumed decocted
and in such estate they have 13 to 16% of protein. They are rich in essential
amino acids.
The existence of four alkaloids called macaina 1,2,3 and 4 has been reported,
with Rf values of 0,680, 0,346, 0,198 and 0,851, respectively. Moreover, it
presents glucocinolates, benzyl isothiocyanate, p-methoxybenzyl isothiocyanate,
carbohydrates, starch, fructose and maltose. The former is broken down in two
glucoses, cellulose and lignin, fatty acids and tannins.
Calcium (Ca), with over 100 000 ppm or over 10%, as macronutrients, excelled
in the spectrographic chemical analysis conducted with the maca root by Universidad
Nacional de Ingeniería in October 1996.
Regarding phosphorus (P), the Nutrition Institute reported values over 183,3
mg % in 1978.
Phosphorus and calcium have a central place in biology: They are responsible
for the structural functions affecting the skeleton and soft tissues and for
the regulating functions of the neuromuscular transmission and of the chemical
and electric stimuli.
85% of phosphorus is found in the skeleton and intervenes in the formation
of ATP (Adenosin triphosphate).
Maca (Lepidium meyenii Walpers) presents 11 g % of proteins in the dry root
and 14 g % in the integral paste (Nutrition Institute 1978).
Cellulose and lignin have been found in the analysis of the roots, besides
carbohydrates, maltose, fructose and tannins.
The maca starch contains calcium, phosphorus, iron, fatty acids, and natural
oils.
The following oligoelements are also found in the maca root: potassium, magnesium,
silica, iron, aluminum, sodium, manganese, copper, tin, zinc and bismuth.
Distribution:
This species is found in the highlands, specially in the Junín Pampas.
It grows at 3 500 - 4 500 m a.s.l. It is a plant that grows in the puna region.
General Aspects:
Maca was one of the first plants to be domesticated by the Andean people. Its
cultivation continued during the colonial times until the sixteenth century,
and its importance gradually varied throughout the years. It is known to
have been used as nutrient and medicine for 2000 years.
Archeologist Ramiro Matos, who studies pre-Hispanic agriculture in the Junín
puna region, claims that maca L. Meyenii might have been domesticated in the
superior medium formative period (700 BC) and that there is no evidence in
the zone dating before such period. However, it is noteworthy that the agricultural
activity in the high plateau of Junín is much older than the maca domestication
(Lepidium meyenii W.).
The archeological evidences demonstrate that the sedentarization process of
human groups in the puna region of Junin took place in very early stages due
to the characteristics of the environment, which were stable and with enough
hydrobiological resources. This allowed the domestication of maca and its usage.
Agusto Weberbauer, in El mundo vegetal de los Andes peruanos (1945), claims
that he found maca in the puna region between Candarave and Carumas, in the
department of Puno, at 4600 m a.s.l.
In its newspaper articles (1978), Javier Pulgar Vidal describes maca as a crop
having a very important function in the feeding of the region. This crop is
currently found in Ondores, Huayre, Uco, Ninacaca, Matacancha, Auquimarca and
Junín, located in the Bombón plateau; and in Jarpa and in the
road from Huancayo to Yauyos as well.
Traditional uses:
As food: The root is previously dried and then decocted
in order to be used. The leaves are consumed as a complement for salads.
As liquor: The decocted roots are macerated and blended to prepare a cocktail.
As tonic: The root is considered an excellent tonic by the Andean people.
Antirachitic
Antianemic
To fight against the alterations in the menstrual and/or hormonal cycle.
In ethnoveterinary: It is administered to animals in order to increase their
fertility and put them in estrus.
Clinical studies:
The preliminary observations of the pharmacological studies were positive in
the sense that the histological findings in rats show a clear and defined stimulation
of the maturation of follicles. An increase in the quantity of spermatozoids
in the seminiferous tubes, as well as an increase of mitosis and espermatogonia
is observed in the females and males.
In laboratory animals, it has shown a positive effect as a food and as a medicine,
with benign effects on blood and the reproductive system, thus scientifically
confirming the Andean people's belief about its medicinal kindness in human
and animal development.
The action of the alkaloids, calcium and iron of maca could be used to fight
against anemia and as stimulants in the formation of red corpuscles and in
human and animal reproduction. It could also be used to help fighting against
certain illnesses currently being researched, such as leukemia, aids, alcoholism,
menopause anemia and other blood-referred illnesses, after getting the results
of the corresponding experiments (Chacón 1997).
Its properties have been researched in different parts of the world. The studies
have been conducted in rats and mice; only one study has been conducted in
healthy human beings.
An increase in the number of coitus is observed in the rodents within this
group of benefits. It also favors the spermiation, which is the release of
spermatozoids through the seminiferous tubules, and it improves the weight
when the second generation of rats are born, after a dietetic substitution
of maca with the balanced food.
Chinese research on mice with erectile dysfunction that were treated with maca
should be deepened before being disclosed, since they are prone to be misinterpreted,
and such research says maca is an Andean viagra or a vegetable viagra, while
the true effect of this plant does not consist of merely gonad-related action.
The study carried out in humans reports an action of maca in its gelatinized
tablet form (maca La MolinaÒ), on the improvement of the seminal liquid
quality. This is the only study so far conducted in human beings and it corroborates
-for the benefit of many people- the fact that the experimental studies in
laboratory animals are encouraging.
It is noteworthy that the studies should be serious and should report to the
consumer that this plant is not an aphrodisiac. It has more properties and
it is rich in compounds. There is a lot to be researched about it.
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