Maca

A crop grown higher than almost any other – maca thrives on the frosty plateaus of Junín at over 4,000 m.

Maca is a low plant of the cabbage family that forms a ground-hugging rosette of ragged leaves and a swollen, tuberous, turnip-like hypocotyl. The tubers are cream, yellow, red, purple or black. It is grown on high plateaus at 4,000–4,500 m, where hard frosts and gusty winds prevail and few other crops can survive. Once dried, the tubers can be stored for years; they are made into flour, porridges, drinks and desserts.

Significance in the country

Maca was already grown on the Junín plateau in pre-Inca times, and today, as a fashionable “superfood”, it has become an important Peruvian export.

Where it grows

Mainly on the Bombón plateau around Lake Junín, in the Junín and Pasco regions, at about 4,000–4,500 m.

More: Wikipedia (en)