Maca
Maca root in powder and capsules, from yellow, red and black varieties. We explain how gelatinised maca differs from raw, which dose products commonly use and how long to give it before you judge the effect.Read more →
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What maca root is and how the powders, capsules and extracts differ
Maca (Lepidium meyenii) is a root vegetable from the high Andes of Peru, where people have eaten it as food for centuries. It belongs to the cabbage family, so it is a cruciferous plant. The part used is the swollen root, dried and then milled into powder. Air-dried maca root is mostly carbohydrate, with roughly a tenth protein, plus fibre, potassium and iron.
An honest starting point about what maca may claim
Maca has no authorised health claim in the EU or the UK. Claims for botanicals are still on hold with the European food safety authority (EFSA), so no shop may legally promise you a result from maca, and we will not do it either. What we can be precise about is variety, form and the amount per serving. That is also how we write about the rest of our herbs and plants range.
Raw, gelatinised and extract are three different products
Most confusion in this category comes from the label, not the plant. These are the options you will see, including products in capsule form:
- Raw powder: dried, milled root. Keeps its starch and has a strong earthy taste.
- Gelatinised powder: heated and pressed so the starch breaks down. Nothing to do with gelatine, so it stays vegan. Milder in taste and often easier on the stomach.
- Whole-root capsules: a fixed amount of milled root, no taste, no measuring.
- Concentrated extracts: a ratio such as 10:1. A 500 mg capsule can be labelled as 5,000 mg root equivalent. That is a calculation, not 5,000 mg of powder in the capsule.
Yellow, red and black come from one plant
The three colours are not three species. They are different root colours from the same fields. Yellow is roughly 60% of a typical harvest, so it is the cheapest and the one used in most research. Red and black are rarer, which is why single-colour products cost more. The evidence for colour-specific differences is still early and based on small studies, so we would not pay extra for a colour promise. Plain yellow or a three-colour blend is a sensible place to start.
How we choose the maca we stock
We look at three things: the form, the amount per serving and whether a combination adds anything. We prefer gelatinised powder and whole-root capsules that state a clear milligram figure, because root equivalent numbers on extracts are easy to misread. We name the variety on the page, so you know whether you are buying yellow, red, black or a blend. We buy directly from the brands, with no intermediaries, and every product passes our compliance team before it goes live. We test products ourselves, and independent labs spot-check batches. See how we select brands and products.
Who this collection suits
Maca suits adults who want a plant food they can take daily and are willing to give it time. Four to eight weeks of consistent use is a fair test; consistency matters more than a large dose. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, there is no reliable safety research on supplements with maca, so ask your midwife or GP first. Maca contains glucosinolates, natural compounds from cabbage-family plants that can affect the thyroid in large amounts, so speak to your doctor if you have a thyroid condition. If you are comparing daily botanicals, our ashwagandha selection sits in the same part of the assortment.
Frequently asked questions
Maca is a root vegetable that grows on high plateaus in the Peruvian Andes, where it has been eaten as an ordinary food for centuries. Botanically it is Lepidium meyenii, a member of the cabbage family, so it is related to broccoli and kale rather than to true ginseng. The root is dried and milled into powder, which is then sold loose, encapsulated or concentrated into an extract. It is often nicknamed Peruvian ginseng, which is a marketing name, not a family link.
