Acai: The World’s Best Superfruit

Acai, pronounced Ah-Sigh-Ee, is a tasty berry that has a flavor of chocolate combined with its own unique berry taste. The Acai berry is small and round, much like blueberries, and black-purple in color. Acai berries grow in clumps and you can only find them in the tops of Açaí palm trees that grow in the Amazon rainforest in South America. Indigenous peoples in the Amazon have eaten the berries for centuries for their healing and nourishing properties. They also believe that Acai is an antidote to many diseases.

Acai was commercialized by enterprising Brazilians who started freezing the fruit and transporting it to Rio de Janeiro. Acai quickly became the drink of choice for Brazilians suffering from malnutrition, athletes and other nutrition-conscious groups. In 1992, Acai became a large part of Rio’s beach culture, with most bars and gyms selling drinks and smoothies made from Acai. Since then, Acai has been growing in the cultures of more and more diet conscious countries, first in the U.S. and now across a broad front in Europe, with large influences in countries such as United Kingdom, Germany and Sweden.

The Legend

The Amazonians tell a tale of an ancient tribal chief who had a daughter named IACA. The tribe became so large that they couldn’t find sufficient food for everyone so the tribal council decided that all newborn babies must be killed. When IACA gave birth to her own daughter, she had to allow the council to kill the infant.

IACA mourned her child’s fate in solitude for several days until she heard the cry of a child. When she went outside of the hut to look for the crying baby, she saw a palm tree shooting up from the earth full of fruit. Being distraught with despair, she lay under the tree and died.

The next day, the people found IACA’S body under the new tree and they discovered that the tree’s fruit satisfied their hunger. The chief then declared that the fruit of the new tree would be renamed after his daughter (Acai is IACA backwards). With food in abundance, the tribe lived rich and grew large.

Acai: Nutrition Facts

Nutritional Properties

Clinical studies have shown that Acai may be the most nutritious superfruit on the planet. Acai gives your body and brain energy and mental focus in order to cope with the everyday stress of life. In addition, the fruit is naturally nutritious. In South America, and particularly in Brazil, Acai has been specially developed for use in traditional folk medicines.

Acai contains many beneficial vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids. Acai possesses Vitamin B1 (Thiamine), Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin), Vitamin B3 (Niacin), vitamin C, vitamin E (tocopherol), potassium, iron, calcium, phosphorus and magnesium.

Besides these, Acai contains healthy Omega 6 and Omega 9 fatty acids, amino acids and is an excellent source of quality protein. Oleic (Omega 9) is a monounsaturated essential fatty acid that reduces the levels of bad cholesterol and maintains levels of beneficial cholesterol. Linoleic (omega 6) is a polyunsaturated essential fatty acid that has basically the same function as Omega 9.

Used as a dietary supplement, acai is essential for the natural process of weight loss.

Much of the energy of the Acai fruit comes from these beneficial fatty acids that improve blood circulation and are good for the heart and blood vessels. Acai is rich in fiber which helps digestion. The majority of carbohydrates received from the consumption of Acai are from fiber.

Acai also contains the valuable sterol called phytosterol. Sterols are compounds of the plant cell membranes that provide many good effects for the human body, including the reduction of blood plasma cholesterol. Compared with other fruits and juices, the amounts of sterols contained in acai are considered super.

However, what really makes Acai unique is its level of antioxidants. Acai contains more than twice as many antioxidants than blueberries and 30 times more anthocyanins than a glass of red wine. Antioxidant activity is measured in something called ORAC – Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity.

Production

The majority of Acai is harvested from the wild and must be immediately processed and frozen within 24 hours to maintain its nutritional qualities. More than 90% of the Acai berry consists of the core and only 10% is pulp. That 10% of pulp must then be mixed with water to make Acai useful for food. The mixture is called Acai fruit pulp and is ideal for use in products such as drinks, smoothies, juices, extracts and powders. The most common way that Acai is served in Rio is by mixing it with Guarana and serving it in a bowl of muesli.

It was not until the introduction of plant processing and logistics for the handling of refrigerated products that Acai could begin to be exported from the Amazon region. When the berries are picked from the palm trees, they are transported on wagons running along rails to process plants in the middle of the Amazon rainforest. In 1990, the first exports of Acai were made to southern Brazil.

Consumption

In the Amazon, indigenous people have consumed Acai for centuries. Anomabi Indians consumed large quantities of the fruit before they went on long hunting expeditions. They knew that the energy the berry gave them would be enough to supply them for 3 days.

Today, for the most part, the Acai palm heart is consumed as a vegetable and its berries are used for beverages. The strong pigment of the berry makes it useful as a dye color. The palm tree and its leaves are also used to build houses.

The local people of the Amazon consume large quantities of Acai. They do not consume many dairy products here, but instead drink up to 2 liters of Acai juice every day. The juice is quite popular and almost every small town has a place that makes the juice or puree. Acai is also popular as an ice cream flavor and in other dessert forms.

In the city of Belem located at outlet of the Amazon there is a huge market of Acai fruit called “Feira do Acai.” In this market, there are 70-120 individual retailers that together provide the city with 400,000 liters of Acai juice daily!

See Acai Recipes of amazing taste.

Açai in the media

CNN -  “The Acai berry is among the most nutritious foods of the Amazon, rich in vitamin B, minerals, fiber, protein and omega-3. Acai also contains oleic acid (omega-9), a fatty acid which is very beneficial for overall health”.

Fox News - ”Studies have proven that this little berry called Acai is one of the most nutritious and powerful foods in the World! Acai berry is one of the healthiest energy source from the jungles of the Amazon”.

NBC - ”A fruit of Brazil is a very popular of healthy foods, rich in antioxidants. A recent study at the University of Florida showed that daily consumption of this fruit, helped to destroy cancer cells in humans”.

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