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LET'S PRESERVE MACA

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO PRESERVE PERUVIAN MACA?

As a producer and the only supplier of sun dried Peruvian maca from the Junin region, I herewith intend to offer some explanations and resolve dilemmas. In this text, I address the issues that have not been addressed anywhere else because native people high in the Andes avoid talking about them.

Why is black maca powder not black?

You already may assume that the powder color of different varieties of maca does not vary. The color of the varied roots is primarily found in the shell, but the root pulp is always of the same, beige color. Therefore, all maca powders are of cream-beige color, whereas scientific research has shown that these colors have somewhat different properties. Read more about this topic here.

What is gelatinized Maca?

The process of gelatinization is actually what happens with the potatoes, rice, or pasta after 10 minutes of boiling. Starch disintegrates and turns into jelly, while the plant becomes softer and edible. Raw starch products are not edible. Maca is one of them. Otherwise, raw potatoes would be edible.

Gelatinization by extrusion increases the bioavailability of maca and its beneficial effects. Such treatment of maca results in the final micropulverized product achieving a slightly lighter color, increased density, and a milder taste, hence easier digestion. The advantage is that after 10 minutes of boiling any food, it loses a significant part of its nutritional value, while after a few seconds of the food extrusion process, it remains almost intact.

Fitotoldo vs. sun-dried maca

Use of Fitotoldo ended the centuries-old tradition. These are greenhouses where maca roots can be dried in less than 15 days, while the traditional way of drying in the sun can take two months. In the euphoria of the demand for the organic maca, which has always been organic, farmers were forced to obtain costly certificates of the organic origin. However, these certificates are valid for each crop for exactly 12 months. In order to avoid the risk of the expiry of the validity period before selling the product, they use greenhouses to accelerate the drying process.

Maca has always been dried in the sun because the sun preserves its qualities and improves its taste and flavor. Sunbeams up to 4000 m altitude affect Maca magnificently. The lack of oxygen and appropriate temperature provide ideal drying conditions, so there is practically no oxidation or nutrient loss of the fresh maca roots to occur.  Faded roots dried in the greenhouse at almost 50 °C quickly lose their properties, smell, and flavor. In fact, the demand for the organic Maca made the Quechua farmer ruin its root in order to make it organic. At the same time, there is no such place on this earth as pure and clean as the homeland of Maca. What an absurd! We, Nuestra Cooperative, are the only ones left who still dry traditionally Maca roots in the sun, and we will never give it up! Let’s save Maca and its amazing properties!

Real black Maca or a cheaper replacement

Black Maca is very rare in the Andes and, above all, very expensive. There has always been a big demand for it. The Chinese, Korean, and Taiwanese are loyal buyers of the black root. For them, the price is not an issue. Producing black Maca is extremely difficult. After the first harvest, it loses its intense black color as the properties. On the photo, you can see a much cheaper purple plant (Zamba) sold in Peru instead of the black one. Nobody is aware of the exact quantities of pure black Maca sold to any external buyer; it is not tracable. We are free to claim that Black Nuestra Maca Extract, as all our black Maca raw materials are made of pure black Maca roots. It is scientifically proven that black maca has the most beneficial properties of all Peruvian maca varieties. Products made of pure black maca are difficult to find.

Try Nuestra Maca; feel its great taste and spectacular effect!