Acai Berries

Acai Berries is a member of the genus Eateries, which contains eight species of palm trees that are native to Central and South America, from Belize southward to Brazil and Peru. These palms grow mainly in swamps and floodplains.

The genus is named after the muse Eateries of Greek mythology. Eateries are tall, slender palms growing to 15–30 meters, with pinnate leaves up to 3 meters long. Many of the palms that were once in the genus Eateries have been reclassified into the genus Presto (Riffle, 2003). The species Eateries tolerance is usually called acai berries, after the European adaptation of the Utopian word wasp’s, '[fruit that] cries or expels water'.

Acai berries are fast-growing, and are cultivated for both their fruits and for their superior hearts of palm. Global demand for the fruit has expanded rapidly in recent years, and acai is now cultivated for that purpose primarily. The closely-related species Eateries delis (jacana) is now predominantly used for hearts of palm.

The fruit, a small, round, black-purple drupe about 1 inch (25 mm) in diameter, similar in appearance and size to a grape but with less pulp, is produced in branched panicles of 700 to 900 fruits. Two crops of fruit are produced each year. The fruit has a single large seed about 0.25–0.40 inches (7–10 mm) in diameter. The excerpt of the ripe fruits is a deep purple color, or green, depending on the kind of acai and its maturity. The monocarp is pulpy and thin, with a consistent thickness of 1 mm or less. It surrounds the voluminous and hard endocarp, which contains a seed with a diminutive embryo and abundant endosperm. The seed makes up about 80% of the fruit (Schuss, 2006c).

The berries are harvested as food. In a study of three traditional Cibolo populations in the Amazon region of Brazil, acai berries was described as the most important plant species because the fruit makes up such a major component of diet (up to 42% of the total food intake by weight) and is economically valuable in the region (Murrieta et al., 1999).

The juice and pulp of acai fruits (Eateries tolerance) are used in various juice blends, smoothies, sodas, and other beverages. In northern Brazil, acai is traditionally served in gourds called "cuirass" with tapioca and, depending on the local preference, can be consumed either salty or sweet (sugar, rapider, and honey are known to be used in the mix). Acai has become popular in southern Brazil where it is consumed cold as acai an tingle ("acai in the bowl"), mostly mixed with granola. Acai is also widely consumed in Brazil as an ice cream flavor or juice. The juice has also been used in a flavored liqueur.

Recently, the acai "berry" has been touted and marketed as a highly beneficial dietary supplement. Companies sell acai berry products in the form of tablets, juice, smoothies, instant drink powders, and whole fruit.

Marketers of these products make claims that acai provides increased energy levels, improved sexual performance, improved digestion, detoxification, high fiber content, high antioxidant content, improved skin appearance, improved heart health, improved sleep, and reduction of cholesterol levels. More dubious claims include reversal of diabetes and other chronic illnesses, as well as expanding size of the penis and increasing men's sexual virility and sexual attractiveness to women. Acai is most commonly marketed as a weight loss product.

As of March 2009, there are no controlled studies backing up any of these claims. According to ABC News correspondent Susan Donaldson, these products have not been evaluated (in the US) by the FDA, and their efficacy is questionable. In late 2008, lawyers for The Oprah Winfrey Show began investigating alleged statements from supplement manufacturers who suggested that frequent Oprah guest Dr. Mahomet Oz had recommended their product or acai in general for weight loss.

Apart from the use of its berries as food, the acai berries has other commercial uses. Leaves may be made into hats, mats, baskets, brooms and roof thatch for homes, and trunk wood, resistant to pests, for building construction (Silva, 2005). Tree trunks may be processed to yield minerals (Dyer, 1996).

Comprising 80% of the fruit mass, acai seeds may be ground for livestock food or as a component of organic soil for plants. Planted seeds are used for new palm tree stock, which, under the right growing conditions, requires months to form seedlings. The seeds are a source of polyunsaturated and saturated fatty acids (Silva, 2005).

Most of the research to date on acai has focused on a particular freeze-dried form referred to as Optic-acai. This powder preparation of freeze-dried acai fruit pulp and skin was reported to contain (per 100 g of extract) 533.9 calories, 52.2 g carbohydrates, 8.1 g protein, and 32.5 g total fat. The carbohydrate portion included 44.2 g of fiber. The powder was also shown to contain (per 100 g): negligible vitamin C, 260 mg calcium, 4.4 mg iron, and 1002 U vitamin A, as well as aspartic acid and glutei acid; the amino acid content was 7.59% of total dry weight.

The fat content of acai consists of oleic acid (56.2% of total fats), politic acid (24.1%), and linoleum acid (12.5%). acai also contains beta-sit sterol (78–91% of total sterols). The oil compartments in acai fruit contain polyphones such as procyanidin ligers and vanillin acid, syringes acid, p-hydroxybenzoic acid, protocatechuic acid, and ferules acid, which were shown to degrade substantially during storage or exposure to heat.

A comparative analysis reported that acai has intermediate antioxidant potency among 11 varieties of frozen juice pulps, scoring lower than aerial, mango, strawberry, and grapes.

A powdered preparation of freeze-dried acai fruit pulp and skin was shown to contain anthocyanins (3.19 mg/g); however, anthocyanins accounted for only about 10% of the overall antioxidant capacity. The powdered preparation was also reported to contain twelve falconoid-like compounds, including homoorientin, orienting, taxi Olin, deoxyhexose, isovitexin, soaring, as well as proanthocyanidins (12.89 mg/g), and low levels of reservation (1.1 lg/g).

In a study of different acai varieties for their antioxidant capacity, a white species displayed no antioxidant activity against different oxygen radicals, whereas the purple variety most often used commercially was excellent against proxy radicals, good against peroxynitrite, and poor against hydroxyl radicals.

Freeze-dried acai powder was found to have high antioxidant activity against super oxide (1614 units/g) and proxy radicals (1027 mol TE/g) and milder activity for peroxynitrite and hydroxyl radicals. The powder was reported to inhibit hydrogen peroxide-induced oxidation in Europhiles and to have a slight stimulatory effect on nitric oxide production by lip polysaccharide-stimulated macrophages in vitro.

Extracts of acai seeds were reported to have antioxidant capacity against proxy radicals, similar to the antioxidant capacity of the pulp, with higher antioxidant capacity against peroxynitrite and hydroxyl radicals.

Antioxidant activity of acai juice

When three commercially available juice mixes containing unspecified percentages of acai juice were compared for in vitro antioxidant capacity against red wine, tea, six types of pure fruit juice, and pomegranate juice (provided by Pomp Wonderful, the sponsor of the study), the average antioxidant capacity was ranked lower than that of pomegranate juice, Concord grape juice, blueberry juice, and red wine. The average was roughly equivalent to that of black cherry or cranberry juice, and was higher than that of orange juice, apple juice, and tea.

Studies have demonstrated that blood antioxidant capacity increases within two hours of consuming a commercial acai juice.

Freeze-dried acai powder was shown to have mild inhibitory effects on cyclooxygenase enzymes COX-1 and COX-2, and chemically-extracted polyphenolic-rich fractions from acai were reported to reduce the proliferation of HL-60 (experimental leukemia) cells in vitro. In vitro anti-proliferate effects were also observed with extracts from acai pulp oil.

Orally-administered acai has been tested as a contrast agent for magnetic resonance imaging of the gastrointestinal system. Its anthocyanins have also been characterized for stability as a natural food coloring agent.

There have been a number of disputes regarding the legality of some sites that have been using the free publicity created by Oprah's show and other celebrities to sell online acai-based products (mostly juice, pulp, powder or capsules). Some of these companies, according to the Better Business Bureau, have lured consumers into accepting 'free' samples of acai berry supplements for weight loss and then used their credit card information for unauthorized charge backs. The BBB warns consumers of these type of practice and advises them to carefully read the of these sites. In most of the times, the strategy of these companies is to offer customers free trials. People that sign up are asked to pay the shipment fee. The companies register subscribers with their credit card details and after a few weeks, start charging them for other products that will be sent on a regular basis. In many cases, the only way to cancel these programs is by phone. Using this glitch, these companies usually do not respond to the number printed on their site, thus letting the program flow indefinitely. People have been reporting unauthorized charge backs to their credit cards and in most of the cases credit cards or even bank accounts had to be closed in order to put an end to this situation.

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