The acai berry is a found on an acai palm plant that hails from the Amazon Rainforests in Brazil; it is smaller than a grape and has a rich, deep purple color. The flavor of this berry is described as being a mix of red wine and chocolate. Acai berries have been used for generations by the natives of Brazil and now can be found in energy juice drinks, energy bars and even ice cream.
The fruit has a large seed and a minimal amount of pulp but in that small package comes a literal plethora of beneficial items and is considered to be one of the world’s most nutritional fruits. Acai berry has been tested by the USDA and found to be very high in antioxidants, which are known to counter the effects of free radicals.
Learn about acai berry and the amount of antioxidants in this little fruit. It was rated by Oxygen Radical Absorbency Capacity (ORAC), which is the measure of how well a food’s antioxidant can absorb and neutralize free radicals, and is more than 200 percent higher than any other known fruit or vegetable. This means the Acai berry has more then ten times the antioxidants than a grape or even wine.
Along with the antioxidants, acai berries also have amino acids, omega fats, electrolytes, protein and vitamins A, B1 and E. With all of these beneficial things packed into this little fruit it is no wonder acai berries have become all the rage in health products.
Acai berries have been in use for a long time outside of the western world but its recent discovery by the American market has led to an outpouring of products featuring this berry. It has become something of a wonder food due to its outstanding health benefits as well as its versatility of use in food.
The berry is not only used to flavor food or as an added ingredient in a smoothie, it has also amazed researchers as well as the media. During testing at the University of Florida, scientists discovered through testing the attributes of the Acai berry, that it actually was able to destroy cultured leukemia cells.
Eating the acai berry straight from the palm plant is not recommended and the normal processing for this berry involved extracting the acai from the pulp of the berry. The most common form is an acai berry supplement that is made from the freeze-dried powder of the berry and sold in a pill format.