## 3 Results and Discussion  
### Antioxidant Activity of Maca Extracts  
The results of the antioxidant activity of maca extracts obtained using two solvents (96% ethanol and water) in various extraction conditions are collected in Table 1.  
Table 2 presents the descriptive statistics of the tested variables as follows: minimum, maximum, mean, standard deviation, median, lower quartile, and upper quartile. The values of antioxidant potential expressed as RSA ranged from 6.94% to 75.32%; the mean value was 47.45, and the median was 50.00%. The values of antioxidant activity expressed as TEAC ranged from 14.96 uM TE/L to 231.16 uM TE/L, with a mean value of 143.06 and a median of 151.11 uME/L. The lowest content of phenolic compounds was 2.09 mg GAE/L, and the highest was 138.45 mg GAE/L. In this case, the mean value was 82.73, and the median was 86.41 mg GAE/L. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c} \hline \hline \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Extraction Process Conditions**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**DPPH Scavenging Activity**} & **Total Phenolic Content** \\ \hline
**Solvent** & **Time (min)** & **Technique** & **TEAC [μM TE/L]** & **TPC [mg GAE/L]** \\ \hline \multirow{8}{*}{Ethanol} & 15 & & \(16.3\pm 1.3\) & 3.2 \(\pm\) 0.9 \\  & 30 & M & \(25.4\pm 1.3\) & 5.3 \(\pm\) 0.9 \\  & 60 & & \(37.7\pm 1.3\) & 11.8 \(\pm\) 0.7 \\ \cline{2-4}  & 15 & & \(71.8\pm 1.6\) & \(34.5\pm 1.1\) \\  & 30 & MSH & \(84.7\pm 1.3\) & \(39.8\pm 1.2\) \\  & 60 & & \(87.1\pm 1.7\) & \(44.2\pm 1.4\) \\ \cline{2-4}  & 15 & & \(76.1\pm 2.1\) & \(41.6\pm 0.8\) \\  & 30 & UAE & \(89.3\pm 2.8\) & \(46.0\pm 1.1\) \\  & 60 & & \(112.6\pm 3.0\) & \(63.0\pm 1.2\) \\ \cline{2-4}  & 15 & & \(150.2\pm 2.5\) & \(83.8\pm 0.9\) \\  & 30 & RE & \(148.8\pm 2.9\) & \(88.9\pm 1.2\) \\  & 60 & & \(149.5\pm 3.2\) & \(95.3\pm 1.4\) \\ \hline \multirow{8}{*}{Water} & 15 & & \(147.0\pm 2.7\) & \(73.2\pm 1.1\) \\  & 30 & M & \(159.0\pm 2.8\) & \(80.9\pm 1.1\) \\ \cline{2-4}  & 60 & & \(191.0\pm 1.9\) & \(111.2\pm 1.2\) \\ \cline{2-4}  & 15 & & \(192.8\pm 1.8\) & \(122.1\pm 2.1\) \\ \cline{2-4}  & 30 & MSH & \(222.0\pm 2.0\) & \(124.8\pm 2.1\) \\ \cline{2-4}  & 60 & & \(229.6\pm 2.0\) & \(128.2\pm 1.8\) \\ \cline{2-4}  & 15 & & \(208.2\pm 2.4\) & \(123.2\pm 1.6\) \\ \cline{2-4}  & 30 & UAE & \(212.9\pm 2.1\) & \(131.5\pm 1.4\) \\  & 60 & & \(217.0\pm 1.8\) & \(136.9\pm 1.4\) \\ \cline{2-4}  & 15 & & \(208.1\pm 2.5\) & \(133.2\pm 1.9\) \\ \cline{2-4}  & 30 & RE & \(199.0\pm 3.1\) & \(132.7\pm 2.3\) \\ \cline{2-4}  & 60 & & \(1 Our studies of maca root extracts obtained using two different solvents and in various conditions enabled the determination of the influence of extraction conditions on the DPPH radical scavenging activity and total phenolic content of these extracts. As can be seen in Table 1, DPPH scavenging activity expressed as TEAC varied for ethanolic extracts from 16.3 uM TE/L in the case of 15-min maceration (E 15 M) to about 150.2 uM TE/L for 15-min reflux extraction (E 15 RE). TEAC values for water extracts were significantly higher and ranged from 147.0 uM TE/L in the extract obtained by 15-min maceration (W 15 M) to about 229.6 uM TE/L in the case of 60-min maceration with shaking (W 60 MSH). Interestingly, for water extraction, a simple enhancement of maceration by shaking (MSH) in 30 and 60-min processes led to higher TEAC values than the application of ultrasounds (UAE) or higher temperature (RE). Detailed statistical analysis of correlations between the extraction time and DPPH radical scavenging activity showed that statistically significant positive correlations were found in the water extract for the M and MSH techniques (r = 0.948) and UAE (r = 0.859). In the case of the RE, the correlation was statistically significant but negative (r = \(-\)0.846), which indicates that the longer the extraction time, the lower the antioxidant potential of the water extract.