A worker at a filling line for maca wine at Yancheng Baisuifang, one of the largest processers and retailers of the root in Lijiang, Yunnan. Yang Wanli / China Daily

Aphrodisiac appeal

Traveling in Lijiang is not just an exploration of the cultures of local ethnic groups, such as the Naxi, the Bai, and Tibetans, or the stunning views of snow-capped mountains. Maca, is the city's "business card" and can be seen everywhere, from huge billboards at the airport to downtown supermarkets. Promotional material can even be found in restrooms, with posters on cubicle doors that read: "When men eat Maca, they always behave as though they are 20 years of age", an obvious reference to the root's apparent aphrodisiac qualities.

A casual Internet search produces descriptions such as "herbal Viagra", and "a natural sex booster", although Lijiang locals make light of such claims, preferring to emphasize that the root promotes hormonal balance, nourishes and regulates the endocrine system and reduces night sweats.

"I first heard about the miraculous effects of Maca at a dinner with some government officials in 2008. Maca wine was a popular nutritional drink among officials and businessmen at the time," Yang said. "One of them carefully took a black clay pot from his bag and offered us the wine. He said he always felt more vigorous after drinking it."

Large-scale, corporate cultivation of Maca began in Yunnan in 2010. Before that, the root was mainly grown by small, family owned wine stores where it was immersed in distilled spirit - a common method of extracting active herbal ingredients from plants.

Before Yang started his business in 2011, he conducted research at several small shops. "The wine was stored in large jars, and most of the customers were individuals who only bought one or two bottles. The retailers used a gourd ladle to remove the wine from the jar, because there were no automated filling systems like the ones we see nowadays," he said.

Other benefits

Although many people have dismissed the claims of health benefits conferred by Maca, scientists say the stories are not folklore, but have already been proven correct. Early in 2004, a research paper published by the College of Life Science and Technology at Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, Hubei province, concluded that Maca contains a number of branched-chain amino acids, which aid muscle protein, and taurine, which is believed to have anti-oxidant properties. The plant's ability to boost energy levels was also proved via a series of experiments on animals.

Yancheng Baisuifang operates four productions lines making dried root slices, wine, coffee and pills. The pills account for 50 percent of the company's total sales and are extremely popular with consumers from outside Yunnan.

"The feedback we received from many companies showed that the nutritional aspects of Maca play better with consumers in other provinces, especially those on the coast or the interior," said Ma Baihua, an official at the Lijiang Biological Resources Development and Innovation Office. "It's hard to determine the reason, but in traditional Chinese medicine its common that herbs native to the north of the country provide more-effective treatments for patients in the south."