Archeological evidence has been found that Lepidium meyenii was domesticated over 2000 years ago by the predecessors of the Incas, and primitive cultivars of Lepidium meyenii were even found in places dating back to 1600 years before Christ. Ancient Peruvian cultures have taken advantage of the health benefits of this plant over the centuries. Lepidium meyenii was not only for them, but also for their livestock. This plant has flourished under extreme conditions due to its great ability to concentrate the nutrients from the soils of the Andes.

According to the chronicles, Lepidium meyenii was considered sacred food used successfully as an aphrodisiac, and to increase energy levels. It was destined specially for the Incan royalty. But also, the Incan warriors had Lepidium meyenii because it offered to vitality and physical force to the battle.

Also, some chronicles state that Incan warriors consumed Lepidium meyenii before entering into battle because this would make them extremely strong. But after conquering a city, the Incan soldiers were forbidden from using Lepidium meyenii in order to protect the conquered women from the warrior's powerful sexual impulses.

Lepidium meyenii has been used medicinally to enhance fertility in humans and animals. Soon after the Spanish Conquest in the South America , the Spanish found that their livestock were reproducing poorly in the highlands. So, native Peruvians suggested the Spaniards that Lepidium meyenii roots should be provided to the animals. After obtaining great results, Lepidium meyenii reached so much popularity that it was used as currency. Colonial records dating back 200 years indicate that payments of roughly 9 tons of Lepidium meyenii were demanded from one Andean area alone for fertility purposes.

• In 1843, Lepidium meyenii is first described by the German botanist Wilhelm Gerhard Walpers, basing on several studies he performed in the highlands of Puno , Peru.
• In 1945, Dr. August Weberbauer described some species of Lepidium meyenii over 4000 meters over the sea level, but he called it “Puna herb”. Some of the herbs Weberbauer studied are maintained in the Herbarium of the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.
• The fertility enhancing properties of Lepidium meyenii were supported clinically in 1961 in a specialist study published by Dr. Gloria Chacon de Popovici, a biological researcher.
• In 1989, the biologist Gloria Chacón published another study in which she named “Lepidium Peruvianum Chacon sp. Nov.”, adding a new scientific denomination to Lepidium meyenii.
• In 1993, in an ecology thesis, the Universidad Nacional Agraria de La Molina classified Lepidium meyenii as “Lepidium sp.” However, most doctors and botanists prefer to name the plant by its original name, which is Lepidium meyenii.
• A study published in the April 2000 issue of Urology, the prestigious medical journal that first published the Viagra studies, found Lepidium meyenii's sexual performance powers to be consistent with the legendary reports coming from Peru for hundreds of years.