Acai Fruit

There is a lot of buzz about acai in the market place, but a lot of people don't know much about the fruit itself. Since Acai Roots ™ was started and is currently operated by Brazilians who grew up with acai with strong Roots in Brasil, they decided to share some of our knowledge about this wonderful fruit.

The Fruit - Acai (pronounced ah-sigh-eeh) is a Tupi (Brazilian indigena language) word that means "fruit that cries" (learn more about acai berry history). This dark purple little fruit looks very similar to a jaboticaba (another very popular Brazilian fruit), grape or blueberry (very common in the US), with the difference that the majority of the fruit is seed (~ 95%), and only the skin around the seed is utilized to make acai juice or pulp.

Acai Fruit - Picture taken by The Acai Roots ™ Team after harvesting with one of our cooperatives in the Amazon.

Acai Benefits - Acai on the top of the chain when it comes to antioxidant concentration - the berry scores 67% more antioxidants than pomegranate, and over 500% more antioxidants than blueberry, as demonstrated on the chart below:

Chart demonstrating acai ORAC comparison versus pomegranate, blueberry, apple and banana.

The Palm Tree - Scientifically called "Euterpe oleracea", the Açaí Palm (or "açaizeiro" in Brazil) can grow up to 30 meters tall (90+ ft), and it can be found all over the Amazon Region - typically by the margins of the rivers, given the acai palm tree demands a lot of humidity. The leaves of this palm tree can reach 3 meters (~9 ft). Most parts of this palm tree are utilized in Brazil: the fruit is utilized to make juice, smoothies, etc, the seeds for handcrafting, the heart makes the delicious heart of palm (called "palmito" in Brazil).The leaves are utilized by the "caboclos" (locals from the Amazon Region) to make roofs of their houses, and the strings are also utilized.

Acai Tree - Picture taken by The Acai Roots ™ Team along the Amazon River.