Adulteration of (Lepidium Meyenii)
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Adulteration of Maca (Lepidium meyenii) a a By Jeremy Stewart, PhD, and Bill Chioffi aGaia Herbs, 101 Gaia Herb Drive, Brevard, NC 28712 Correspondence: email Citation (JAMA style): Stewart J, Chioffi B. Adulteration of maca (Lepidium meyenii). Botanical Adulterants Preven- tion Bulletin. Austin, TX: ABC-AHP-NCNPR Botanical Adulterants Prevention Program; 2018. Keywords: Lepidium meyenii, maca root, adulterant, adulteration Goal: The goal of this bulletin is to provide timely infor- mation and/or updates on issues of adulteration of maca Maca Lepidium meyenii Photo ©2018 Steven Foster (Lepidium meyenii, Brassicaceae) to the international herbal industry and extended natural products and natural health communities in general. 1.5 Botanical family: Brassicaceae 1. General Information 1.6 Plant part, form and production method: 1.1 Common name: Maca1,2 The Government of Peru has published national techni- 1.2 Other common names: cal standards that define the raw material, the processed forms and processing methods:5-7 玛卡 黑卡 黑玛 Chinese: Ma ka ( ); hei ka ( ), or hei ma ka ( • NTP 011.180:2011 – Dried maca, requirements 卡 (黄卡 ) for black maca; huang ka ), or huang • NTP 011.181:2014 – Toasted flour of maca – 黄玛卡 ma ka ( ) for yellow maca requirements French: Maca • NTP 011.182:2014 – Gelatanized flour of maca – German: Maca requirements Italian: Maca Drafts of Peruvian national standards for three addi- Quechua: Ayakwillku. Other names used in Peru: Maka, tional processed forms (crude flour, liquor, and nectar) are maca-maca, maino, ayak, chichira, ayak willku, expected to be published.8 huto–huto3,4 Whole hypocotyls and roots are field dried and sepa- rated according to size and color. The material is ground 1 Spanish: Maca and left as is, “raw” or can be “gelatinized” using water, Swedish: Maca1 temperature, and pressure, and then further processed into powder. According to one supplier, maca is also offered 1.3 Accepted Latin binomial: Lepidium meyenii Walp. cut into large pieces for further processing (R. Das [BI Nutraceuticals] email communication, October 17, 2017). 1.4 Synonyms: Lepidium peruvianum G.Chacón,1 Lepid- Extracts are offered as liquid extracts (hydroethanolic ium affine Wedd., Lepidium gelidum Wedd., Lepidium extracts, dry extracts dissolved or suspended in glycerin- weddellii O.E.Schulz4 water mixtures) or dry extracts plated onto a suitable starch base, such as maltodextrin or acacia gum (Acacia Lepidium meyenii - Botanical Adulterants Prevention Bulletin • September 2018 • www.botanicaladulterants.org Lepidium meyenii - Botanical Adulterants Prevention Bulletin • September 2018 • www.botanicaladulterants.org 1 1 senegal, Fabaceae). Extracts can be standardized to contain ence on the legal trade routes involving illegal export and macamides, macaenes, and glucosinolates, although the use artificial inflation of a raw material. According to data of glucosinolates as biomarkers has decreased due to inher- supplied by Sunat, the Peruvian tax agency, in the first nine ent instability and metabolism to isothiocyanates.9 months of 2015, Peru exported 752,351 kg of dried maca root powder. The total 2014 export volume was 1,831,984 1.7 General use(s): As dietary supplement products in kg. Main export destinations for Peruvian maca (during a the United States, maca products are used to support energy nine-month period of Jan-Sept 2015), in terms of FOB (free levels, reproductive function, and/or as a nutrient-dense on board) value, include the United States (38%), Canada food.10,11 As a medicinal ingredient of licensed Natural (7%), People’s Republic of China (7%), Hong Kong Special Health Products (NHPs) in Canada, Health Canada autho- Administrative Region (SAR) (3%), and Japan (7%), leav- rizes the following indications for use: (1) Provides antioxi- ing 38% unaccounted for, possibly due to illegal exporta- dants; (2) Helps to support healthy mood balance during tion. menopause; and (3) Helps to support emotional aspects of 2.2 Supply sources: Maca is indigenous to an area of sexual health.12 the high Andean mountains of South America. While its original growing range is not known, it is believed that it 2. Market spanned a much larger geographical area than the locations 2.1 Importance in the trade: According to data from where it is currently cultivated.14 Maca is now grown in the market research company SPINS, maca was the fourth three primary Provinces in central Peru, adjacent to Lima bestselling herbal supplement in the United States natural in the Andes mountains: Junin, Pasco, and Huancayo at market channel and was 36th in the mass market in 2016 altitudes between approximately 3500 and 4500 meters (Tables 1 and 2).13 Maca experienced substantial growth (11,483 – 14,764 ft.).8,14,15 In addition, smaller amounts in 2014, 2015, and 2016 in the United States in the natu- of maca are grown in the adjacent Provinces. Junin is the ral channel (Table 1). The current decline in retail maca best-known cultivation area and has the most farmers. sales in Peru has a direct correlation to escalating raw Maca that is cultivated in specified areas within the Junin material prices caused by an infiltration of foreign influ- and Pasco provinces has been protected by the World Intel- Table 1. Maca dietary supplement sales in the United States (natural channel; sales in US$) 2013a 2014a 2015b 2016b 2017c Natural Channel Maca Sales 6,066,809 7,077,409 8,224,352 8,824,679 8,741,619 Year over year growth % 17% 16% 7% -1% Delivery Format 2013a 2014a 2015b 2016b 2017c Powder 3,034,249 3,871,898 4,185,608 4,595,139 4,332,762 Capsule/Tablet 2,822,604 2,961,626 3,407,055 3,504,330 3,610,393 Liquid 199,117 216,895 211,686 201,704 215,127 Unspecified 10,840 26,990 420,002 523,404 583,336 aSPINS scan data Natural channel- herbal formulas and singles 52 weeks ending December 2014 and 2015, respectively bSPINS scan data Natural channel herbal formulas and singles 52 weeks ending January 2016 and 2017, respectively cSPINS scan data Natural channel herbal formulas and singles 52 weeks ending February 25, 2018 Table 2. Maca dietary supplement sales in the United States (mass market; sales in US$) 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Rank Sales Rank Sales Rank Sales Rank Sales Rank Sales 35 4,844,103 30 6,650,181 30 7,194,683 36 6,251,160 36 6,250,846 Sales data according to SPINS/IRI, exclusive of possible sales at big-box stores, e.g., Walmart and Costco, and outlets with no scanning capabili- ties (small retailers, health professionals). Also not included are direct sales through the internet, and sales from multilevel marketing. Sources: Smith et al. 2017.13 T. Smith (American Botanical Council) email to S. Gafner, September 2, 2015, September 3, 2015, and June 19, 2018. K. Kawa (SPINS) email to S. Gafner, July 11, 2016. Lepidium meyenii - Botanical Adulterants Prevention Bulletin • September 2018 • www.botanicaladulterants.org 2 lectual Property Organization (WIPO) as an “Appellation 2.4 Market dynamics: The following excerpt is from of Origin”, recognizing the unique characteristics of maca a report to Gaia Herbs executive team in August of 2014 grown in these regions. The production around the city of regarding a “market takeover” by Chinese buyers that Huancayo and Huancavelica Province have less maca and caused prices to elevate beyond normal ranges starting in suppliers indicated it was of lesser quality, even though the early summer of 2014 (Table 3). the two regions have adequate elevation, soil, and climate “The three main issues driving this situation as related for growing maca. Suppliers estimated that over 70% of by corroborating details from all suppliers we met with are the maca in Peru is grown in Junin Province. While most as follows: sources of maca raw materials are in Peru, there are some 1. Chinese traders are paying the farmers cash, approxi- other countries of origin that export small amounts of maca mately $20/Kg for whole sundried mixed maca, and material, e.g., Ecuador and Bolivia. China had a substantial up to $30/Kg for whole sundried black maca. In impact on the supply and demand logistics of this botanical a cash sale the farmers avoid taxation. Any sale of in the summer of 2014 when Chinese merchants invested goods over $1,000 in Peru requires a bank transac- large amounts of human resources and capital in buying tion, invoice and documentation. maca at unprecedentedly high levels from Peru.16 Maca’s 2. Chinese traders are smuggling whole sundried root importance to Peruvian culture and economy cannot be out of Peru into Bolivia and Ecuador for export to overstated. In October of 2010 Peru joined in the ratifica- China. tion of the Nagoya Protocol. Its objective is the fair and 3. Chinese traders are exporting Maca Seed for cultiva- equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of tion in the Yunnan Province. genetic resources, thereby contributing to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. The United States and It is estimated that Chinese traders had already exported China did not enter into this agreement. or smuggled 25% of the 2014 maca crop in the first available months of July/August. All suppliers indicated that the 2014 2.3 Raw material forms: The export of maca is regu- crop would be gone by the end of the year. Suppliers have lated by the Peruvian Government through an Executive also indicated that decreasing supply will continue to drive Order (Decreto Supremo N. 039-2003-AG), which regu- the price of material up from this point forward. Suppliers lates and oversees the prohibition of commercializing and have changed their sales terms to “cash in advance”, in order exporting of seeds, botanicals, and vegetables in their natu- to be able to afford to buy from their farmers and to secure ral “fresh-raw” state.