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LET'S PRESERVE MACA

Why It Is Vital to Preserve Authentic Peruvian Maca

As a producer and the only supplier of sun-dried Peruvian maca from the Junín region, I offer these explanations to resolve common dilemmas. This text addresses issues often left unspoken, even by native people high in the Andes.

Debunking Maca Myths

Why Isn't Black Maca Powder Black?

Contrary to common assumptions, the powder color of different maca varieties does not vary. The color distinction (black, red, yellow) is found primarily in the outer shell of the root, while the inner pulp is always a consistent cream-beige. Therefore, all maca powders are a cream-beige color. However, scientific research has indeed shown that the roots' original shell colors correspond to somewhat different properties. (Read more about this topic here.)

What Is Gelatinized Maca?

The process of gelatinization is similar to what happens when you boil potatoes, rice, or pasta for ten minutes: the starch disintegrates and turns into a softer, edible form. Raw starch products are not edible, and maca is one of them. You wouldn't eat a raw potato, and the same principle applies to maca.

Gelatinization by extrusion significantly increases the bioavailability of maca and, consequently, its beneficial effects. This specific treatment results in a final micropulverized product that has a slightly lighter color, increased density, and a milder taste, which leads to easier digestion.

The primary advantage of extrusion is preservation: ten minutes of boiling any food causes a significant loss of nutritional value, whereas the 20 seconds required for food extrusion leave the nutrients almost intact.

The Threat to Tradition: Fitotoldo vs. Sun-Drying

The use of Fitotoldo (greenhouses) has ended a centuries-old tradition. In these greenhouses, maca roots can be dried in about 10 days, while the traditional sun-drying method takes up to two months.

In the market's frenzy for "organic maca" (which has always been organically grown), farmers were forced to obtain costly organic certifications, which are valid for only 12 months. To avoid the risk of the certificate expiring before the product sells, they use greenhouses to rapidly accelerate the drying process.

Maca has always been dried in the sun because the intense sunbeams at 4,000 meters altitude preserve its qualities and enhance its taste and flavor. The lack of oxygen and the appropriate temperature provide ideal drying conditions, practically preventing oxidation or nutrient loss from the fresh maca roots.

Roots dried in a greenhouse at almost $50 \text{ °C}$ quickly lose their properties, smell, and flavor. In fact, the demand for "certified organic" maca has forced the Quechua farmer to compromise the very qualities of the root. This is truly absurd, given that no place on Earth is as pure and clean as maca's native homeland.

We, Nuestra Cooperative, are the only ones left who still traditionally sun-dry Maca roots, and we will never give up this process! Let's save maca and its amazing properties!

Black Maca: Authenticity and Scarcity

Black maca is extremely rare in the Andes and consequently very expensive. There has always been huge demand for it, especially from Chinese, Korean, and Taiwanese buyers, for whom the price is not an issue.

Producing high-quality black maca is difficult; after the first harvest, it often loses its intense black color and beneficial properties. Pictured here, you can see a much cheaper purple plant (Zamba) frequently sold in Peru as a replacement for black maca. The exact quantities of pure black maca sold to external buyers are not traceable.

We are confident in claiming that Black Nuestra Maca Extract, and all our black maca raw materials, are made from pure black maca roots. Scientific evidence proves that black maca has the most beneficial properties among all Peruvian maca varieties. Products made from pure black maca are difficult to find, but we insist on quality.

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