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Maca (Lepidium meyenii, Lepidium peruvianum) is part of the Brassicaceae family and grows at high altitudes in the Peruvian Andes mountain range (3500–5000 m). Historically, it has been used as a nutrient-dense food and for its medicinal properties, primarily in enhancing energy and fertility. Scientific research has validated these traditional uses and other clinical applications by elucidating maca's mechanisms of action, nutrition, and phytochemical content. However, research over the last twenty years has identified up to seventeen different colors (phenotypes) of maca. The color, hypocotyl size, growing location, cultivation, and post-harvest processing methods can have a significant effect on the nutrition content, phytochemical profile, and clinical application. Yet, research differentiating the colors of maca and clinical applications remains limited. In this review, research on the nutrition, phytochemicals, and various colors of maca, including black, red, yellow (predominant colors), purple, gray (lesser-known colors), and any combination of colors, including proprietary formulations, will be discussed based on available preclinical and clinical trials. The gaps, deficiencies, and conflicts in the studies will be detailed, along with quality, safety, and efficacy criteria, highlighting the need for future research to specify all these factors of the maca used in publications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Glucosinolates in Maca (L. peruvianum syn. L. meyenii) grown in Peru and China. • Glucotropaeolin (GLCT) and m-metoxyGLCT (MGLCT) profiles, contents and ratios. • No MGLCT detected in Maca phenotypes cultivated in Shangri-La, China. • Red coloured Maca hypocotyls found only in Peru-grown Maca crops. HPLC glucosinolate (GCSN) profiles and concentration levels were examined in hypocotyls of the four prime Maca phenotypes (Lepidium peruvianum synonym L. meyenii) labelled as "Yellow", "Black", "Red" and "Purple", grown in Peru (Pe) and/or China (Cn). In Trial I, glucotropaeolin (GLCT) and m-methoxyglucotropaeolin (MGLCT) content, and their ratios, was determined in commercial Maca products of Pe origin and compared with similar products declared as of Cn origin. In Trial II , Maca was propagated and cultivated either in Ancash – Peru, according to a traditional single stage planting system, or in Shangri-La – Cn, applying a two-stage Maca planting procedure adopted by Maca growers in Yunnan. Irrespective of the phenotype, in the Pe cultivation system, cylindrical elongated and pointed Maca hypocotyls (H) were harvested in the mixed crop, while disfigured Maca tubers resembling "ginseng-type root" (G) were predominant in the crop harvested in Cn. Two peaks of GLCT and MGLCT were detected in all analysed hypocotyls of the four Maca phenotypes grown in Pe, but only one peak (GLCT) was detected in the Maca phenotypes grown in Shangri-La, Cn. Significantly higher GLCT values were detected in all the Maca phenotypes grown in Cn than in Pe (P < 0.05), with the highest content recorded in the Black and Purple H-shaped while MGLCT was the highest in Yellow G-shaped Cn Maca tubers. Cn-made "Chinese Maca tablets" contained both GLCT and MGLCT. This indicates that Maca imported from Pe could have been used in the formulation - a fact which was subsequently confirmed by the manufacturer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]