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Learn where maca root comes from, why the high Andes of Peru are considered its place of origin, where maca grows today, and what makes the Junín region uniquely suited to this traditional root crop.
As maca has grown in popularity, we have received more and more questions about where it comes from, how it grows, and why the region where it is cultivated matters.
Maca is a root vegetable native to the high Andes of Peru. It has been used there for thousands of years and is especially associated with the Junín Plateau of central Peru.
This page explains where maca originated, where it grows today, why it thrives under such unusual conditions, and why growing maca somewhere else does not necessarily produce the same result.
For more answers to common questions about maca, visit our Maca FAQs. For a broader introduction, see What Is Maca?.
Maca comes from the high Andes of Peru, particularly the Junín Plateau in central Peru.
The earliest archaeological evidence suggests that maca was first cultivated between approximately 2,000 and 5,000 years ago. In the 1990s, researchers discovered maca roots stored in a specialized container in a cave dwelling on the Junín Plateau that was dated to approximately 10,000 years ago.
Based in part on this discovery and maca’s long history in the region, Junín is considered the traditional point of origin of maca root.
Maca is native to the high Andes of Peru.
The earliest archaeological evidence we have suggests that maca, originally a wild vegetable, was first cultivated between approximately 2,000 and 5,000 years ago.
In the 1990s, researchers discovered maca roots stored in a specialized container in a cave dwelling that dated back approximately 10,000 years. The cave is located on the Junín Plateau of central Peru at about 12,000 feet, or 3,600 meters, above sea level.
It is based on this discovery, together with maca’s long history of cultivation in the surrounding region, that the Junín area is considered the point of origin of maca root.
If you would like to go further into maca’s beginnings and historical use, see What Is the Origin of Maca?.
Today, the highest-quality and most potent maca is still associated with the Junín Plateau, particularly the areas surrounding Lake Junín, also known as Chinchaycocha.
Lake Junín is the largest lake located completely within Peru and lies within one of the country’s most important traditional maca-growing regions.
Maca roots are also grown in other parts of Peru, including areas of Cajamarca, and in smaller quantities in the high Andes of Bolivia.
It has been estimated that more than 90% of maca roots grown worldwide come from Peru.
The combination of elevation, soil, climate, and generations of farming experience makes the central Peruvian Andes particularly well suited to maca cultivation.
Maca requires unusual growing conditions to produce the enlarged edible root for which the plant is known.
The traditional maca-growing region around Lake Junín combines several important environmental factors:
Maca thrives in these harsh conditions even though many other food crops cannot.
That unusually demanding environment is one reason the origin of maca matters so much to us.
Maca plants have been grown outside their traditional Andean environment, but producing a substantial, high-quality edible root has proven much more difficult.
Maca plants have been grown near sea level in places including Lima, Peru; California in the United States; and Berlin, Germany.
In these cases, the upper portion of the plant could grow reasonably well, but the plants did not produce significantly sized maca roots.
Research and experimentation have indicated that maca roots grow best at elevations above approximately 9,000 feet (3,500 meters) and can be cultivated at elevations reaching roughly 15,000 feet (4,500 meters).
Elevation alone does not appear to explain everything.
Researchers have attempted to grow maca in the Rocky Mountains in both Canada and Colorado but did not produce roots with the same nutritional properties as maca grown in the Peruvian Andes.
The particular soils and microclimate of the Junín region therefore appear to play an important role as well.
During approximately 2013–2015, speculative farmers began growing maca in the mountains of Yunnan Province in China.
The results were poor enough that even many Chinese consumers were reluctant to purchase the locally grown crop.
We discuss the differences in much greater detail in our Peruvian vs. Chinese Maca article.
Maca is not simply a plant that needs cold weather.
The traditional Junín growing region brings together:
For us, these factors are an important reason to continue sourcing maca grown in Peru rather than treating maca grown anywhere in the world as interchangeable.
See Why Peruvian Maca Matters for a closer look at our approach.
Maca occupies a special place in the culture and history of the Indigenous people of the high Andes.
One traditional origin story relates that maca was first recognized as valuable when farmers noticed that livestock grazing on the plant appeared stronger and more fertile. People subsequently began consuming the roots themselves, and cultivation expanded as knowledge of maca spread.
By the time the Incas reached the mountains of central Peru, maca was already an important food among the local populations and formed a significant part of the diet in areas where relatively few other crops could grow.
Historical accounts describe maca becoming important enough that it was used as a form of tribute or taxation within the Incan Empire.
When the Spanish arrived in Peru in the early 1500s, maca already occupied an established place in Andean culture. Spanish chroniclers and priests recorded information about the root and how local people used it.
Maca survived the colonial period and continued to be cultivated in the high Andes. During the twentieth century, it gradually became better known in other parts of Peru and eventually internationally.
By the latter part of the twentieth century, maca was beginning to reach a much wider audience. Today, maca products are available around the world in forms including powders, capsules, liquid extracts, and whole-root products.
For the larger story, visit our History of Maca guide.
For generations, maca was primarily eaten as a food. Dried maca roots could be cooked, made into porridge, added to drinks, or used in other traditional preparations.
As maca became better known internationally, new forms were developed to make it easier to use in modern routines.
Today maca is commonly available as:
The format has changed, but the starting point remains the same: maca root grown and harvested in the Andes.
Maca comes from Peru and is native to the country’s high central Andes. The Junín Plateau is particularly closely associated with maca’s origin and traditional cultivation.
Maca is especially associated with the Junín and Pasco regions of central Peru, including the high plateau surrounding Lake Junín.
Archaeological evidence suggests maca was cultivated thousands of years ago. Researchers have also reported finding maca roots in a specialized container in a Junín Plateau cave dwelling dated to approximately 10,000 years ago.
Maca plants can be grown elsewhere, but attempts outside their traditional high-Andean environment have often had difficulty producing the same substantial roots or characteristics associated with Peruvian-grown maca.
Traditional Peruvian maca develops under an unusual combination of altitude, sunlight, freezing temperatures, wind, rainfall, rocky soil, and generations of agricultural experience. Learn more in Why Peruvian Maca Matters.
Learn more about why we source maca from Peru or browse our complete selection of maca products.
