Açaí Palm

) or Euterpe is a genus of 25-30 species of palms native to tropical Central and South America, from Belize south to Brazil and Peru, growing mainly in floodplains and swamps. They are tall slender attractive palms growing to 15-30 m tall, with pinnate leaves up to 3 m long. The fruit, a small, round, black-purple drupe similar in appearance and size to a grape but with less pulp, is produced in branched panicles of 700 to 900 fruits. The fruit has a single large seed about 7â€"10 mm in diameter.

The fruit is a globose drupe, presenting flower residues, with a diameter varying between 1 and 2 cm and an average weight of 1.5 g. The epicarp of the ripe fruits is a deep purple color, almost black, or green, depending on the kind of açaí and its maturity. The mesocarp 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 genus is named after the muse Euterpe of Greek mythology. The vernacular name is also sometimes spelled Assai Palm in English.

Harvesting and Uses

The extraction of the palm's heart (the soft inner growing tip) involves the inevitable death of the palm as its growing tip is removed, and it cannot recover. Some species are self suckering, not single stem, and produce multiple stems, sometimes up to 40 on one plant, so harvesting palm heart is not such an environmental problem as the original stock plant can live on. Given that harvesting is still a costly and labour intensive task, palm heart dishes are regarded as a delicacy more than a staple diet - palm's heart is sometimes called "Millionaire's Salad" due to the high price.

In northern Brazil, açaí is traditionally served in cuias with tapioca and sometimes sugar. There, people drink it rather than eat it. Açaí has become a fad in southern Brazil, where it is consumed cold as açaí na tigela ("açaí in the bowl") mixed with guaraná syrup and served with slices of banana and a small dish of granola on the side to be added as desired. The juice and pulp of açaí fruits are frequently used in various beverages and smoothies, or marketed in North America blended with the more familiar flavor of grape juice.

Açaí fruits deteriorate rapidly after harvest, so outside its growing region it is generally only available as juice or frozen fruit pulp. The frozen fruit pulp is very deep purple and is reminiscent of a blueberry sorbet or ice cream with a hint of chocolate. It can also be eaten raw or used as a condiment, most commonly with shrimp or manioc. It is considered one of the most nutritious fruits of the Amazon, second perhaps to the Brazil Nut. The leaves of the tree are often used in weaving and basket making.

Açaí is widely sold in South America, where it can even be found in sodas. People often complain about finding it very difficult to find Açaí products. It is sold in juice form, as well as in various smoothies.

Nutritional Content

Açaí are used (particularly Euterpe edulis) for their "palm heart", which is eaten as a steamed dish, and (particularly Euterpe oleracea) for their highly-prized fruits, which are rich in a diversity of macro- and micronutrients, as follows:

Macronutrients (gram amounts per 100 grams of fruit)
* calories, 247
* carbohydrates, 36
* proteins, 13
* fats, 48
* fibers, 34
* pH, 5.8

The above contents for fats and dietary fibers are exceptional among fruits, deserving further discussion.

Açaí pulp is particularly rich in oleic acid (60% of total fats, an omega-9 fat), palmitic acid (22%) and linoleic acid (12%, an omega-6 fat), fat sources most commonly found in fruit seeds. β-sitosterol beta-sitosterol, a phytosterol that competes with cholesterol for absorption, is also unusually rich (78% of total sterols).

Having nearly one-third of its mass as dietary fiber, açaí is an exceptional source for this valuable macronutrient. A 100 gram serving of fruit pulp would provide all the recommended fiber needs for adults (30 grams per day). The fiber components are both insoluble (from skin) and soluble (pulp polysaccharides), although these have not been quantified to date.

Micronutrients

Preliminary analyses of açaí pulp show significant richness of vitamins and minerals. Vitamins B1, B2, B3, C and E are present. Vitamin C content was measured at 17 mg per 100 grams (about the same as blueberries) and vitamin E at 45 mg per 100 grams, is an extraordinary content for fruits.

Potassium content is high in açaí (932 mg per 100 grams). Other minerals isolated included sodium, calcium, magnesium, iron, copper, zinc, phosphorus and sulphur.

Sixteen amino acids were found in açaí pulp, with especially high contents of aspartic acid and glutamic acid.

Antioxidant Phytochemicals

The dense pigmentation of açaí led to experimental studies of its anthocyanins which had a total density of 44 mg per 100 grams of pulp.

Studies have been completed on the antioxidant strength of açaí expressed as the oxygen radical absorbance capacity or ORAC. Unfortunately, the sources of açaí and preparations for the ORAC determination (e.g., whole fruit, juice, extract or soluble powder) for reporting the results vary.

One ORAC study had açaí soluble powder from pulp at 5800 μmol TE per 100 grams whereas another analysis (by Brunswick Laboratories Inc., a third-party contract analysis firm) showed açaí ORAC at 53,600 μmol TE per 100 grams, the highest score yet reported for fruit. Further research and clarification of these antioxidant capacities are obviously needed.

Possible Health Benefits

Açaí has been called "the power berry" or "super berry" and even "the Amazon's Viagra" because of the numerous nutrients ascribed to it.

Açaí has even been used topically for its astringent and antibacterial properties.

Due to its rich content of anthocyanin pigments (especially cyanidin-3-glucoside and cyanidin-3-rutinoside) that give it the characteristic deep purple color, açaí likely imparts important health benefits associated with consumption of antioxidant pigments, such as reduced risk or prevention of cancer, diabetes, chronic inflammation, heart and vascular disease, Alzheimer's disease and other types of neurodegeneration, high blood cholesterol, stroke, bacterial infections, urinary tract infections, age-related visual deterioration and premature aging.

Açaí itself does not contain caffeine. However, in commercially available products the fruit is usually combined with guaraná, which is a source of caffeine and/or structurally very similar alkaloids.

Medical Research

As a relatively new discovery, açaí has appeared in the online database of the US National Library of Medicine â€" PubMed -- only since 2004. Since then, just 6 reports are listed (August 2006).

Due to its deep pigmentation, orally-administered açaí has been tested as a contrast agent for magnetic resonance imaging of the gastrointestinal system.

Four studies analyzed the antioxidant properties of açaí, showing powerful effects from pulp and seeds against specific oxidizing agents like peroxyl radicals and peroxynitrite. One finding of interest was that the total antioxidant capacity of açaí could be accounted in just 10% of the identified anthocyanins. This finding indicates that açaí is endowed with other, yet unidentified, antioxidant phytochemicals.

In 2006, a study performed at the University of Florida showed that açaí antioxidants could induce more rapid death (apoptosis) of leukemia cells in vitro.

This preliminary research indicates a possible anti-cancer effect of anthocyanins and other pigments, as shown for North American dark berries like the blueberry and black raspberry.

External links

*Pictures of Açaí palms trees and fruit from an article by The Nature Conservancy.
*University of Florida study confirms that açaí berries contain antioxidants that destroyed cultured human cancer cells
*English-language abstract of Brazilian study: "The descending order of antioxidant capacity was acerola> mango> strawberry> grapes> açaí> guava> mulberry> graviola> passion fruit> cupuaçu> pineapple."
* [1]

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