A balanced diet is essential for maintaining health, while food supplements (FS) are intended to complement and support basic nutritional needs. FS contain various nutritional components, among which plant extracts are common (1). These often include substances with clearly demonstrated clinical effects on health, as well as compounds with potential but not yet fully confirmed activity. The aim of this master’s thesis was to qualitatively characterize the presence of potentially bioactive compounds in maca-containing food supplements available on the Slovenian market and to assess the consistency between the declared claims and the actual chemical composition of the analysed products.
Maca (Lepidium meyenii) is a traditional Peruvian plant, although it is now predominantly cultivated in China (3). We examined the Slovenian market and purchased ten FS containing maca as the main active ingredient. Based on a review of the scientific literature, we compiled a list of compounds believed to contribute to maca’s physiological effects and analysed the samples using UHPLC HRMS. We determined the presence of selected compounds in each product and, on this basis, assessed their potential activity. The data were processed using Xcalibur FreeStyle software.
The analysis showed that the declared claims regarding the potential effects of the products generally correspond to the actual presence of compounds. Although our analysis included 101 potential compounds, approximately 20 components were detected across the samples. The detected compounds are consistent with effects attributed to maca in the literature and in product advertising, such as reduced fatigue, improved mood, and effects related to fertility. The results indicate that maca containing FS include compounds that may contribute to these effects; however, their presence alone does not confirm clinical efficacy but rather provides a biochemical basis for the advertised claims and for further research. Our study serves as a foundation for future quantitative analyses, in which the content of compounds should be determined using reference standards to evaluate whether the recommended daily doses of these FS are both safe and sufficient to achieve the intended effects. Based on the results of this master’s thesis, we conclude that the chemical composition of maca-containing food supplements varies among products, and that the detected compounds provide varying levels of support for the declared claims regarding their effects.
|
