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Traditional Andean Herb
 Summarized Description:
Tincture of "Flor de Mashua" has a long history of traditional use
in various communities throughout the Andes.
In small Andean "farmer's markets," you can find small jars of the
pulverized, dried mashua root. [G. Caton]
Instructions / Ingredients
Take 1 tsp. (5 ml.), twice a day.
If you find the alcohol in this alcohol-based tincture objectionable, then simply
put the teaspoon of tincture in a cup of hot (near boiling) green tea and wait
five minutes. The alcohol will readily flash off (i.e. evaporate).Ingredients: Mashua extract, alcohol,
purified water (30% by weight).Contraindications
All edible parts of mashua are known to
drop testosterone levels, so this product is contraindicated with all
natural and pharmaceutical-grade ED (erectile dysfunction) products.
Duke (see below) makes the historical note that "Peruvian rulers (used mashua) like salt pepper, as an
antiaphrodisiac for the troops." (1) He goes on to note that mashua
"contains p-methoxybenzylglucosinolate. Male rats fed tubers in their diet
were as capable as the control animals in impregnating females but showed a 45% drop
in their blood levels of testosterone / dihydrotestosterone, apparently related to the
isothiocyanates." (2)
Shelf-Life
Five years or more.
Medicinal Activities
Further information for practitioners:
World-famous botanist Dr. James Duke attributes the following activities
to this plant (p. 718-719; see hardcopy cover at right),
drawn from the extant literature. (See his graduation for "level of
efficacy" on our amazon traditionals page;
followed by Duke's bibliographic abbreviations (in capital letters),
which we identify
on a separate page.)
Indications
Further information for practitioners:
Duke provides the following indications for this plant:
Footnotes
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Preparation to make the
tincture of Flor de Mashua begins with the collection of young
mashua flowers. Our flowers come from our own cultivated field of
mashua (see below). 
At any given time, we can be found
growing mashua, native to the high Andes, from Colombia and Ecuador,
through Peru, in our own botanical gardens. 
Although the tubers of mashua
are prized as a food source in Peru, they are more commonly grown
as ornamentals or medicinals in Ecuador. This is probably because
there are so many edible, native tumors in Ecuador from which to choose.
Traditional
Ethnobotanical Dosage / Usage Duke provides a "food farmacy
potential" score for this plant of, "FNFF=!!" ("Important food in some
parts of the world; not in major supermarkets") 
Indications for its
ethnobotanical use worldwide are broad and fall into the
following categories (p. 719):
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