Acai in the news

One of the major articles about Açai was on Oprah. Then again, anything that is on Oprah is going to be huge.

Oprah's site

There are many news articles out there, especially lately

The Antioxidant Acai

In order to understand the importance of the antioxidants in the Acai berry, it is first important to understand what free radicals. In the chemistry world, free radicals are atoms that have unpaired electrons, which makes the free radicals very reactive.

These reactive free radicals cause oxidation to occur. Signs of such a process can be found in leaving a peace of metal outside in the elements.

When in the human body, these free radicals have damaging effects on the bodies cellular structure (like cell membranes or DNA). These damages by free radicals have been linked to a great number of diseases, among which are certain types of cancers, rheumatoid arthritis, cognitive disorders, and cardiovascular disease. Free radicals are also linked to the aging process.

The main type of antioxidant that is found in the Acai berry is anthocyanins. The Acai is one of the world's richest sources of these anthocyanins. They are what give the Acai is dark, rich purple color. These anthocyanins are very potent antioxidants. They seek out free radicals and destroy them. They repair and protect the integrity of cell membranes and DNA. They are also able to absorb radiation, including UV light.

A way to gauge the antioxidant level of a fruit is the ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbtion Capacity) Value . The Acai berry ranked at the top of antioxidant fruits in the world.

Nutritional and Health Benefits

There is more to this little berry than just a huge seed. This little berry packs a punch (nutritionally speaking of course), and has now been thrown into the realm of a "superfood".

Because of its nutritional contents, the Acai berry offers a pleasing and natural energy boost, that can be enjoyed without the overstimulating and addicting properties of caffeine.

The Acai berries are an amazing source of:
- antioxidants - exterminates free radicals in your body
- anthocyanins - lowers your risk of heart disease (Acai has 30x more than red wine)
- phenolics
- calcium - helps strengthen bones
- Vitamin E - essential for repairing damaged tissue
- phyto-nutrients
- B vitamins,
- potassium
- copper
- manganese
- fiber,- keeps your digestive system active and healthy
- protein
- omega-3 fatty acids
- oleic acid (omega-9) - helps lower cholesterol, and helps your body absorb vitamins
- fatty acid

How is it used?

To the people native to the Amazon, the Acai berry has many uses, although the tree itself also has many uses. Ethnobotanists have found that there are more than 20 different uses that can be found in various parts of the palm.

The Acai berry is mainly used to make a variety of different fruit flavored products. It is used to make wine, ice creams, candies, a paste that is mixed with different foods, and so on.

The Acai berry first found it's non-brazilian users in surfers, who used it as an energy drink. From there, word grew little by little until it caught onto the mainstream, and now many people know about Acai.

Here in America, the most popular form of Acai is Acai Juice, although there are also various forms of Acai powders and capsules.

The seeds of the Acai berry have a variety of uses (this is for the seeds that are not replanted to grow more Acai palms). A growing popular use for the Acai berry seeds is to use them as decorative pieces in jewelry, fashion accessories, or as souvenirs for tourists to the areas. Among the natives to the area, the seed has been used for a variety of things. The oil from the seeds have been used to remedy scrofula (tuberculosis with swollen lymph glands). Sometimes they are crushed and used to make various teas (which remedy fever and jaundice), which are sometimes used to treat skin ulcers.

The root of the tree is often used for medicinal purposes to treat such things as hepatitis, diabetes, kidney disease, menstrual pain, and malaria.

What Acai tastes like

Although the Açai berry looks a lot like blueberries, don't be fooled - they don't taste like blueberries. Want to know what Acai tastes like? Here is what you do...

Get a blender, and the following ingredients:
1 banana
1 mango
1 apple
5 blueberries
3 strawberries
4 raspberries
4 cherries
5 blackberries
3 pineapple wedges
a cup of orange juice
a cup of any other juice
a little lemon or lime
a little honey

Ok, now combine, and blend. Take a drink. Isn't that good? Ok, the smoothie you made tastes NOTHING like Acai, but hey, you did just make a great smoothie!

So what would you expect to experience if you popped one of these little black (or purple) wonders into your mouth and bit down? Well, first of all, you would probably break a tooth. Each Acai berry has a large (in comparison to the rest of the berry) seed in its center, which would be responsible for having one less tooth. The seed itself takes up about 80% of the berry, but the 20% remaining is what gives the Acai berry its magic.

For people that have had the opportunity to eat the Acai berry fresh from the tree, they say it is comparable to boysenberry, or cherries, but with a "chocolate overtone."

Unfortunately for anyone outside the Amazon, it is only available in freeze dried or powder form, or in the more common juice form

What is Açai?

Açai (pronounced ah-sigh-ee) is a fruit, a berry. Well, first its a tree, then its a berry. Ok, first it is a seed, then a tree, then a berry.

In the regions of Brazil, it is called acai, assai, acai-do-baixo, acai-do-para, acaizeiro, piria, jicara, palmiteiro, and Amazonas.
In English, the Açai is also called cabbage palm (but less used now).

The Açai Palm tree looks like many typical palm trees, although you won't find any of these in Palm Beach, CA. It is native to South American, only growing in the Amazon jungle area. It is found mainly along floodplains, swamps, and other saturated and humid areas. Most Acai palm trees grow to 25 feet, very slender, with a full plum of branches.

Most people have had part of this tree before. The inside of the palm is cut out and used as a salad bar delicacy that we know as "heart of palm".

Each Açai palm has shoots of thick bunches of Açai berries. Each branch can hold up to 700-900 of these little Açai berries. It gets pretty crowded on such a small branch, and so the berries are harvested twice a year, usually from July to December, with each stem producing around four to eight bunches.


The seed starts out a green color in its early development stages. As the berries mature, then turn a very dark, rich, color of purple (they get bigger too, but that is kind of a given). The berry itself is about an inch in diameter, roughly the size of a grape, but with the appearance of a blueberry.