Maca 5:1 extract: 10 grams of the Andean root
Maca (Lepidium meyenii, also listed as Lepidium peruvianum) belongs to the brassica family, which makes it a relative of mustard, cress and radish. It grows in the highlands of the Peruvian Andes, at altitudes where hardly any crop survives: maca is cultivated up to around four thousand metres, which counts it among the highest growing farm crops in the world. The edible part is not an ordinary root but a swollen hypocotyl fused with the taproot, forming a tuber whose colour ranges from the widely grown cream yellow to deep purple and almost black. In the Andes the plant also goes by maca-maca, ayak chichira and ayak willku. After harvest the tubers are dried and then milled; the crop is generally said to stand in the field for eight to nine months.
This item is not plain maca powder but an extract at a ratio of 5:1. That figure tells you how much plant material went into the finished product: roughly five parts of dried root for one part of extract. You therefore need less of it than of loose powder, and the 10 gram pack is small to match. Maca has a taste of its own, slightly nutty and malty, which stays noticeable in a drink.
Usage
Maca extract stirs into hot and cold drinks alike, from coffee and tea to a smoothie, and it can be worked into baking as well. For ordinary maca powder a figure of 5 to 20 grams a day is usually mentioned; since this is a 5:1 extract, proportionally less of it is used.
Warning and storage
This product contains gluten. Store the powder dry, dark and properly sealed, and keep it out of reach of children. This is a food supplement and not a substitute for a varied diet. If you are pregnant, breastfeeding or taking medication, talk to your doctor first. Avalon Magic Plants also carries maca as plain powder in a 50 gram bag, and the same herb extract category holds Ginseng extract, Mucuna Pruriens extract and Damiana extract 10:1, among others. Every order leaves our warehouse discreetly packed.
