Articles
Acai Berry Research
Acai berries (Euterpe oleracea) grow on palm trees in Brazil near the Amazon River basin. The grape-like berries are deep purple in color and are about the size of a blueberry. They have a small thin layer of edible pulp and large seeds almost like a pommagranate. According to history Brazilians have called the juice from the fruit of the Acai palm "the milk of the Amazon," and they've used Acai berries to soothe digestive issues and skin problems.
Acai berries are gaining popularity in the United States as a potent source of key antioxidants - they boast ten times the potency of antioxidant in grapes and twice that number of blueberries. In fact, Acai berries are known to have the highest concentration of antioxidants of any edible berries.
Along with more than fifty antioxidants Acai is an exceptionally good source of omega-6 and omega-9 fatty acids, vitamins A, C, and E, and trace minerals all key nutrients for cardiovascular health. These are necessary to decrease the risk of disease and illness factors. Acai appears to have high antibacterial and anti-inflammatory action as well as high protection for cardiovascular health - it supports heart health by helping to maintain healthy cholesterol levels.
A study conducted at a Florida college found that Acai berry extract had promising anticancer properties. The Acai berry has the highest antioxidant capacity as discovered during lab tests of any fruit or vegetable. This is a secret that’s been hard to keep in recent years. It is also determined that the freeze-dried form of the pulp and skin of the Acai berry brings out the highest level of antioxidants in the fruit.
It has been known for many decades that there only two clean cut ways to preserve the nearly 100% of the nutritional benefits of fruits and vegetables – freeze drying and flash freezing. But the problem is cost, and if it’s too expensive for people to purchase special equipment for that process, it makes no real sense to sell and eat Acai. Actually, freeze-drying can be ten times more expensive than spray drying.
Certain processing effects the Acai berry antioxidants and nutrients. Spray drying is done with heat. Freeze drying is done in a vacuum, limiting the activation of enzymes, which otherwise quickly break down compounds in the Acai fruit that give the food its antioxidant capacity. Some companies promoted and marketed Acai products in the early 2000’s via distribution in private and commercially-operated juice bars and mass-market outlets with limited sales.
They used spray dried or frozen Acai, which according to published reports has significantly less of the nutritional and antioxidant composition and activity, of freeze dried Acai, which locks in the nutrient properties.Further, these companies relied on research studies out of Brazil, without really actually performing independent tests to verify the findings. Instead, they primarily relied on hearsay, which is not an uncommon approach used to market exotic foods and especially something that is currently the in thing right now.
Supply and demand for the Acai berry has surged in recent years, bringing with it the attention of nutritionists and health care professionals around the world. If anything, the media has played a major role in its popularity on the world market with the demand and supply of Acai products and launching newer more potent stuff using Acai berries. If the market continues to surge due to the constant findings of the Acai berries from scientists this could be a fixture in the holistic and organic medical community.