Did you know?
- The U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS) began looking into traditional uses of the fruit in the 1980s. Researchers noted that the fruit was highly sought-after by young and old of all economic classes for its strength and energy-promoting properties and was usually consumed at each meal. It is such a mainstay of the local diet that the typical individual is known to consume up to two liters a day of acai fruit.
- The most desirable variety of acai liquid is purple in color, called acai preto.
- Most people who try acai find it to be delicious. It has been described as a completely unique flavor—a sort of chocolate and berry mix.
- The seeds constitute about 80 percent of the acai fruit. Once removed from the pulp and skin, these seeds are an important source of food for livestock. Another use for the seeds is as a source of organic soil to grow plants. The soil is formed after composting the seeds until it turns into a rich, dark brown moist composition. In large population centers, one may find large bins full of the seeds or organic soil produced from these seeds sold to city dwellers.
- The first studies undertaken to evaluate the nutritional value of acai fruit were completed in the 1930s and 1940s, and were often of French or Portuguese origin. These studies tended to focus on major vitamin content and sometimes mineral content.
- More recent research, from the 1960s to the present, has examined the full scope of macronutrients, trace minerals and other bioactive compounds that make up the acai fruit. Newer studies have also reported on the little fruit’s lipid, carbohydrate and protein content.
- With the growing popularity of acai liquid and its byproducts, there is a growing appreciation for the palm’s value, not just as a commodity food item, but also as a highly nutritious and phytonutrient-rich food source for people around the world.
- A research institute, AIMBR Life Sciences, found through extensive research, that the acai fruit contains many nutrients including:
B-vitamins Folate Potassium Beta-carotene Iodine Selenium Boron Iron Vitamin C Calcium Magnesium Vitamin D Chromium Manganese Vitamin E Copper Molybdenum Zinc - ORAC ASSAY One way of measuring the antioxidant capacity of a food is the oxygen radical absorption capacity (ORAC) assay. The ORAC test looks at how much a particular food inhibits free radical activity. There are several different ORAC assays, each of which had been conducted on freeze-dried acai. A scientist at the National Institutes of Aging and United States Department of Agriculture developed the ORAC assay in 1992. This assay was declared to be one of the greatest technological developments ever made by the USDA in more than 120 years. The ORAC assay has been repeatedly validated as a reliable method for antioxidant capacity determination. USDA has tested all of the fruits and vegetables consumed in the United States for their antioxidant activity via the ORAC assay. The USDA reports that the highest average ORAC of any of the foods they tested was for cranberries, which had an ORAC score of 95. A sample of freeze-dried acai fruit pulp underwent the ORAC assay and it was determined the total ORAC value was 1027. This makes acai the star of well-known antioxidants, the highest fruit and vegetable ever tested by the ORAC assay.
