Wholesome in bulk™ Maca Root Powder
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Bulk Maca Root Powder for Supplement and Food Manufacturing
Maca root powder is a dried, milled powder made from the root of Lepidium meyenii Walp., a plant native to the high Andes of Peru. It is sold raw or gelatinized, in yellow, red, and black root colors, and as concentrated extracts. We supply it in bulk to supplement brands, food and beverage makers, contract manufacturers, and formulators. You can request testing documents and samples on the quote form.
A milled Andean root for powder blends and capsules
Maca is a root crop from the Peruvian Andes, dried and milled into a fine cream to beige powder. Buyers specify it by root color, processing, and origin. Each of those choices changes taste, texture, or paperwork, so they belong on the purchase order.
Known botanical identity
Maca is Lepidium meyenii Walp., a member of the mustard family. Some labels use the name Lepidium peruvianum Chacón for the same Andean crop. An HPTLC or TLC fingerprint against a reference standard confirms identity.
Root color is a grade choice
Maca roots are sorted by color, mainly yellow, red, and black. Single color lots and mixed tricolor lots are both sold. Name the color on your order so each lot matches.
Raw or gelatinized
Raw maca is dried and milled without cooking. Gelatinized maca is cooked with heat and pressure before milling, which gelatinizes the starch. The two differ in texture and in how they mix into liquids.
Fine, even powder
Maca spec sheets usually call for at least 95% passing an 80 mesh screen. That particle size suits capsule filling, stick packs, and dry blending.
Earthy, malty flavor
Maca tastes earthy, malty, and slightly nutty. It pairs with cacao, coffee, vanilla, cinnamon, banana, and nut flavors in drink mixes and bars.
Export rules you can document
Peru restricts maca exports to processed forms. Its 2003 decrees list flour, gelatinized maca, and dry extract among them, while seeds and unprocessed roots may not leave the country.
Where formulators use maca root powder
Maca fits dry formats where flavor and serving size are planned up front, including:
- Capsules
- Compressed tablets
- Single ingredient powders
- Powdered drink mixes
- Smoothie and shake blends
- Cacao and coffee blends
- Nutrition bars and baked goods, after taste trials
- Private label programs
Raw and gelatinized maca can mix differently in drinks, so run a mixing trial before you switch forms. An extract with a stated ratio is not interchangeable gram for gram with root powder, so recalculate fill weights when you change forms.
What to check before you buy maca root powder
Two powders sold as maca can differ in color, processing, carrier, and origin. Review these points together, and ask for lot documents before you approve a supplier.
Species and color
Confirm Lepidium meyenii root on both the specification and the certificate of analysis (COA). Name the root color, or the color mix, so every lot matches your approved sample.
Raw or gelatinized
Ask how the lot was processed. For gelatinized maca, ask for a short process description and, where the supplier measures it, the gelatinization index.
Identity testing
An HPTLC or TLC fingerprint compared with a reference standard confirms maca. Some extracts are also standardized to macamides and macaenes, the marker groups named on branded maca extracts.
Extract ratio and carrier
For extracts, confirm the ratio, the solvent, and the carrier. Carrier shares such as maltodextrin vary widely between suppliers, so ask for the full composition in percent.
Contaminant limits
Check lead and cadmium by ICP-MS, microbial counts by USP methods, and pesticide residues. Root crops take up minerals from soil, so compare each limit with your own finished product specification.
Origin and export papers
Ask for the country of harvest and the processing site. Peru allows maca exports only in processed forms, so the export paperwork should match the form on your order.
Raw versus gelatinized: Handle raw and gelatinized maca as two separate items with separate specifications. Approve each one against its own sample, and run a new trial before you swap one for the other in a running formula.
Typical specification for maca root powder
These values reflect common market specifications for maca root powder and extract. Final figures come from the specification sheet and COA for your lot. NLT means not less than, and NMT means not more than.
| Parameter | Specification | Method |
|---|---|---|
| Botanical source | Lepidium meyenii Walp., root | HPTLC or TLC fingerprint |
| Appearance | Fine cream to beige powder | Visual |
| Odor and taste | Characteristic, earthy and malty | Organoleptic |
| Root color | Yellow | Supplier declaration |
| Processing | Gelatinized, or raw | Supplier declaration |
| Carrier | None for root powder; named on the specification sheet for extracts | Supplier declaration |
| Particle size | NLT 95% through 80 mesh | USP <786> |
| Loss on drying | NMT 8.0% | USP <731> |
| Total ash | NMT 5.0% | USP <561> |
| Lead | NMT 3.0 ppm | ICP-MS |
| Cadmium | NMT 1.0 ppm | ICP-MS |
| Arsenic | NMT 1.0 ppm | ICP-MS |
| Mercury | NMT 0.1 ppm | ICP-MS |
| Total aerobic count | NMT 10,000 to 50,000 cfu/g | USP <2021> |
| Yeast and mold | NMT 1,000 cfu/g | USP <2021> |
| E. coli and Salmonella | Negative in 10 g and 25 g | USP <2022> |
| Pesticide residues | Meets USP <561> | GC-MS and LC-MS |
| Shelf life | 24 to 36 months, unopened | Stability data |
Quality standards for maca root powder
Maca has national standards in Peru and Argentina, and USP proposed its first maca monographs in 2023. Together they define identity markers, composition ranges, and how gelatinized flour is verified.
USP proposed Maca Root monograph
USP proposed a Maca Root monograph in 2023, with a second one for a maca root glucosinolates dry extract. Its HPLC identity test looks for three macamides, including N-benzylpalmitamide. A separate HPLC test reads four glucosinolates: sinalbin, glucolepigramin, glucotropaeolin, and glucolimnanthin.
A glucosinolate ratio for authenticity
USP laboratory scientists measured intact glucosinolates in 42 maca root powder products from 11 makers. Glucotropaeolin and glucolimnanthin kept a steady ratio of about 1 to 0.19 across all of them. That ratio, read together with the total, gives QA teams a practical authenticity check.
Peruvian technical standards
Peru's NTP 011.180 covers dried maca, NTP 011.181 toasted maca flour, and NTP 011.182 gelatinized maca flour. A Peruvian technical sheet built on these asks that 97% of toasted flour pass a No. 40 sieve, with moisture NMT 10%. It also asks for gelatinization above 94% and no aflatoxins detectable at 5 ppb.
Argentina's 2025 food code entries
Argentina added maca to its food code in November 2025. Gelatinized maca flour needs a gelatinization index of NLT 95%, moisture NMT 9.0%, and ash of 3.00 to 6.00% on the dry basis. Protein must be at least 8.00% on the dry basis, and no food additives may be added.
How identity is confirmed
HPTLC or HPLC fingerprints compared with a reference standard confirm maca in powders and extracts. DNA barcoding suits whole root powder, since extracts keep little intact DNA. In lab trials, near infrared screening picked up added soy, maize, rice, and radish flours.
Microbial and contaminant limits
Argentina sets aerobic counts with a five unit sampling plan, with m at 10,000 and M at 100,000 cfu/g. Molds and yeasts are set at m 1,000 and M 10,000 cfu/g, and Salmonella must be absent in 25 g. USP <2232> component limits are 0.5 µg/g for lead and cadmium, for intakes up to 10 g a day. Smaller daily amounts can meet the chapter's daily limits at higher per gram levels.
Sourcing and processing practices for maca
Maca quality is set mostly at the farm and in the drying yard, long before milling. These practices give QA teams specific points to ask about and verify.
Ask how the roots were dried
Fresh maca roots hold almost no macamides. They form during open air drying in the Andes, which ran nine weeks at about 4,200 m in one set of trials. Oven dried roots formed them too, up to 800 µg/g on a dry weight basis. Ask for the drying method along with any macamide figure.
Expect glucosinolates to fall as macamides rise
Open air drying converted about 80% of the glucosinolates in fresh maca. Over the same weeks, macamides climbed to at least 10 times the level in freeze dried root. One lot can read well on one marker and poorly on the other, so set your specification on the marker your label names.
Know the growing district
Metal levels in maca follow the soil of each growing district. Ask for the district of harvest and per lot ICP-MS results for lead, cadmium, and arsenic. Compare each result with the limit your finished product needs.
Approve each color on its own data
In a two site Peruvian trial, glucosinolate levels differed by root color, and so did microbial counts in the powders. Approve each color against its own sample, COA, and microbial results.
Match the paperwork to the product
Peruvian sheets declare maca flour under HS code 1106.20 and carry a DIGESA sanitary registration. Peru bars export of unprocessed roots, so the customs entry should name a processed form. Keep the export papers and the registration number in each lot file.
Formulator tips for maca
Use these points when you set fill weights, identity checks, and incoming tests. Most figures come from national standards and published supplier sheets.
- Plan capsule fill from bulk density. One extract sheet gives 0.30 to 0.60 g/mL bulk and 0.45 to 0.80 g/mL tapped. At those figures, 500 mg needs about 0.8 to 1.7 mL of fill volume.
- Set a two sided ash range. Argentina's standard puts maca flour at 3 to 6% ash on the dry basis. A lot well under 3% deserves a question about added starch or flour.
- Use protein as a second identity number. Argentina sets protein at NLT 8.00% on the dry basis for both toasted and gelatinized maca flour.
- Name the marker and the method. If a label states glucosinolates, use an HPLC method for intact glucosinolates, such as the one USP proposed in 2023.
- Read the carrier line on extracts. Published sheets show maltodextrin from 10% to 80% of the powder, and corn based maltodextrin belongs on the allergen and label review.
- Set an incoming test plan. Run HPTLC identity and ICP-MS lead, cadmium, and arsenic on every lot, plus aerobic count and molds on raw powder. Add the gelatinization index for every gelatinized lot, and recheck moisture at retest.
Helping shoppers read a maca label
Brands and their customer service teams field the same label questions again and again. These answers stick to what the ingredient is and how it is labeled.
What the label line means
A typical line reads maca root powder (Lepidium meyenii) (root). Some labels use Lepidium peruvianum for the same Andean crop. Gelatinized means the root starch was cooked and dried before milling, and no animal gelatin is used.
Colors and blends
Yellow, red, and black refer to the color of the root, and the powder itself stays beige to brown. Black maca powder can look slightly grayer. A tricolor blend mixes the three colors, and a single color product names one.
Independent quality programs
Programs such as the USP Dietary Supplement Verification Program and NSF/ANSI 173 certification check finished products against their labels and contaminant limits. Ask the brand which program, if any, covers its product.
Normal taste, smell, and home storage
Maca powder smells earthy and tastes slightly sweet and malty. It can clump when it picks up moisture from the air. Keep the container sealed in a cool, dry, dark place.
Storage and handling for bulk maca powder
Root powders keep their color and flow when they stay sealed and dry. These steps keep the powder in good condition between production runs.
Keep it sealed
Close the inner liner after each use and press out the air. Maca powder picks up moisture from the air and can cake when left open.
Store cool, dry, and dark
Keep bags off the floor in a dry room, away from heat and direct sunlight. Follow the temperature range on the spec sheet.
Control dust when pouring
Fine plant powders make dust at the mixer. Use local dust extraction and keep ignition sources away from open bags, as supplier safety data sheets advise.
Rotate stock
Record the lot number and retest date for each bag. Send older lots to production first.
Maca root powder buyer FAQ
Quick answers to the questions procurement and quality teams ask most.
What is the difference between raw and gelatinized maca?
Raw maca is dried and milled without cooking, while gelatinized maca is cooked with heat and pressure first so the starch gelatinizes. The two differ in texture and in how they mix into liquids. Pick one form and keep it fixed in a running formula.
Which maca color should I buy?
Buy the color your formula and label name, because yellow, red, and black maca are sold as separate grades. Mixed tricolor lots are also traded. State the color on every purchase order.
Is maca root powder the same as maca extract?
No. Root powder is the whole dried root, milled. Extract is made by soaking the root in water or water and ethanol, then drying the liquid, often onto a carrier such as maltodextrin. Extracts are sold by ratio, such as 5:1 or 10:1, or standardized to macamides and macaenes.
Is Lepidium peruvianum the same as Lepidium meyenii?
Yes, in trade both names refer to Andean maca. Most specifications use Lepidium meyenii Walp., and some brands use Lepidium peruvianum Chacón. Make sure the name on your spec sheet matches the name on your label.
Can raw maca root be exported from Peru?
No. Peru's 2003 decrees bar exports of maca seeds and of roots in their natural or primary processed state. Flour, gelatinized maca, and dry extract are among the allowed forms. The country of origin for each lot is provided with your quote.
Does gelatinized maca contain gelatin?
No. Gelatinized refers to the starch in the root, which is cooked until it gelatinizes, then dried and milled. No animal gelatin is used. Argentina's food code defines gelatinized maca flour as made with no added food additives.
Is there a USP monograph for maca?
USP proposed a Maca Root monograph in 2023, with a separate one for a maca root glucosinolates dry extract. The proposal uses HPLC to identify macamides and to measure four glucosinolates. Check the current USP-NF status before you cite it on a label.
What documents can I get with an order?
A certificate of analysis (COA) and a specification sheet ship with every order. An allergen statement and a safety data sheet may also be available, depending on the lot in inventory. Contact us to request them.
Can I get a sample before a bulk order?
You can request one by choosing sample options on the quote form. We will confirm availability, size, and timing.
Request a quote for bulk maca root powder
Tell us the color, raw or gelatinized form, quantity, and timing. We will reply with current pricing. Select testing documents and sample options on the quote form.
Order Maca Root PowderBulk orders: Choose a pack size above, or use the quote form for larger volumes, testing documents, and sample options. We serve supplement brands, food and beverage makers, contract manufacturers, product developers, and formulators.
This bulk ingredient is sold for further manufacturing and formulation. The information on this page describes the ingredient and how commercial buyers evaluate it. It is not medical advice. Each finished product brand is responsible for its own labeling and product claims.
