Plant · P-198

Maca

Lepidium meyenii

Maca is a root crop from the high, cold plains of the Andes, harvested for a sweet, mild-flavored root that is baked slowly or dried and cooked into a porridge called mazamorra. The dried root runs 13 to 16 percent protein and carries unusually high iodine and iron for a vegetable. Its young leaves are also edible, raw or cooked, with a hot, cress-like flavor. It needs a long, cool growing season with summer air staying under 75 F for most of the year, a condition a hot-summer climate cannot supply.