Maca (Lepidium meyenii) is an Andean crop grown for its swollen roots or tubers, which are eaten as a vegetable — traditionally dried, boiled or roasted. Cultivated at altitudes above 3,500 m in Peru, the peppery, radish-like roots are now widely dried and milled into powders for foods, beverages and food supplements marketed for energy and vitality. Processing quality hinges on proper drying to a safe moisture content, hygienic milling and packing, and control of microbial contamination and heavy metals from high-altitude soils; the finished powder must meet food-supplement regulations on composition, contaminants and labelling claims in the market of sale.