## 1 Introduction  
Today, both scientists and consumers are looking for food of natural origin that would have a health-promoting effect on the human body and could be used in a daily diet. In this search, more and more often, plants are used that have been used as dietary components for centuries, but they have also been used as medicinal plants in folk medicine on many continents, including natural medicine, which developed in China, India, and in the countries of North and South America. Such plants are often characterized by specific properties, and it is difficult to find their equivalents in our daily diet. The biologically active compounds contained in these plants are mostly not used in modern medicine, which very often uses biologically active compounds obtained by chemical synthesis. Often, single biologically active substances are not as active as extracts obtained from plants with healing and nutritional effects, which contain compositions of many ingredients that can have a health-promoting effect on our body and often support each other in this action (synergistic effect). An example of such a plant is maca (_Lepidium meyenii_ [PERSON]). Maca has been used for centuries by the Indians inhabiting the Peruvian Andes as a dietary ingredient (it has been considered a superfood) but also as a medicinal plant (increasing concentration, energy,alertness, mental abilities, improving mood, physical resistance, as well as improving sexual function and fertility) [1]. _L. meyenii_ is a plant that currently grows only in some regions of Peru at an altitude of 2000 to 5000 m above sea level. It grows in a zone with low temperatures and strong winds; in addition, this plant is exposed to strong UV radiation and low oxygen levels. Despite such difficult conditions, maca perfectly adapts to them [1; 2; 3]. The main medicinal raw material of this plant is the root (leaves are used as animal feed), which resembles a beetroot or, less often, a pear. The root can reach approximately 20 cm in circumference (its diameter varies from 2 to 8 cm). There are several varieties of maca differing in the color of the above-ground part and roots. The root is usually similar in color to a potato, but there are also roots covered with white, yellow, white-pink, white-purple, red, purple, and even black skin [1; 2]. The leading producer of _L. meyenii_ is Peru, while the countries where maca enjoys great consumer interest and is eagerly bought are the USA, Canada, Great Britain, Germany, China, Japan, and the Netherlands. There are also attempts to cultivate this plant on a large scale on other continents, e.g., in Asia (in China in Yunnan Province) [1]. Maca roots are used fresh (raw or baked), processed into jam or a sweet, fermented drink, dried (dried roots can be stored for up to 7 years), and macareates are also prepared from them. There are commercially available pills or capsules containing powdered maca root, flour (dried and milled), gelatinized flour (dried, extruded, and milled), plain or encapsulated hydroalcoholic extracts, liqueurs, mayonnaises, chocolate, coffee, and tonic drinks [1; 2; 3; 4]. Maca roots contain many compounds with nutritional and pharmacological significance, such as starch, dietary fiber, protein, minerals, vitamins, essential amino acids, non-starch polysaccharides, polyphenols (e.g., flavonolignans), macaenes and macamides (the specific and unique unsaturated acids and amides present only in maca), glucosinolates, and macahydantous [1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6; 7]. Thanks to these ingredients, maca has a positive effect on our health [1; 2; 4; 5]. _L. meyenii_, due to its nutritional properties, can be used in human malnutrition, as well as during growth or pregnancy [2].