Açaí palms (Euterpe oleracea Mart.), Brazil

The high stress of constant sun exposure at the Equator

 

pronunciation of açaí: "assa-ee"

[click on the Wikipedia links for more information]

For a fruit growing among the tops of 60 ft. tall trees near the Equator, special defenses are needed to protect the seeds -- the purpose of all fruits having defensive mechanisms assuring regeneration.

Simply, this unusual growing environment with multiple factors--

year-round sun, irradiation and heat, alternating seasonal moisture and drought, high vertical distance from soil nutrients, exposure to tropical pests and foragers

combines to stress açaí berries into becoming the

exceptional nutrient and antioxidant sources they are.

açaí has to be harvested by shinnying up the trunk of a palm tree to collect a panicle

 

on branch fans called panicles, açaí berries grow in dense clusters

This essay focuses on antioxidant defenses the açaí berry creates

to guard the health of its large seed.

 

 

What are those protective antioxidants

and mechanisms ?

 

Composition of antioxidant chemicals in açaí fruit -- J Agric Food Chem. 2006 Nov 1;54(22):8598-603; by Schauss AG, Wu X, Prior RL, Ou B, Patel D, Huang D, Kababick JP.  Natural and Medicinal Products Research, AIMBR Life Sciences, Puyallup, Washington 98373

• cyanidins, proanthocyanidins, anthocyanins, other flavonoids, resveratrol, catechins, kaempferol, numerous unknown polyphenols yet to be defined by berry scientists

• this broad combination of antioxidant phytochemicals gives açaí its high ORAC rating, higher than any other fruit or vegetable yet measured

• but not higher ORAC than spices -- the highest rated ORAC foods. Clove, cinnamon, oregano, tumeric, and sumac bran all have higher ORAC scores than açaí -- check out the Berry Doctor report and USDA ORAC chart (page 30-1)!

• in the açaí berry, these rich amounts of polyphenols (also called phenolic acids) neutralize oxidative reactions and give the berry its dense purple color and acidity

 

Compare the showdown in nutrients and antioxidants between açaí and goji (wolfberry)

here at the Berry Doctor's Journal and at Natural Products Insider

click for links!

 

What factors explain açaí's exceptional nutrient content ?

Açaí has exceptional nutrient content -- possibly the highest amounts of dietary fiber and fat found in plant foods -- as well as diverse micronutrient content.

Read reports on nutrients

Factors accounting for these nutrient characteristics ?

 

1. botanical family, Palmaceae, and associated nutrient genes of numerous edible plants
2. favorable composition of Amazon soil and environmental nutrients for tree growth
3. berry skin and pulp defenses assuring survival, growth and regeneration of the seed
4. speculation -- açaí makes high amounts of pulp fat for a purpose, probably as a source of energy during growth of the berry. The intense pigmentation and antioxidant content of açaí are likely for protection of these fat stores from oxidative reactions, i.e., prevention against rancidity

Consuming antioxidant-rich foods like açaí affords humans

with these numerous nutrients and the same potential antioxidant

protection the plant provides for itself.

 

Choosing color-rich food products can become a practice of diet.

It's in your own hands!

Shop in the perishable food section by using the Color Code!

 

Click on the image to launch Amazon.com

An excellent, inexpensive text about the açaí berry

and its nutrients, phytochemicals and origin

Reading

* Heber D. What Color Is Your Diet?, 2001, ReganBooks, New York.

* Joseph JA, Nadeau DA, Underwood A. The Color Code, 2002, Hyperion, New York.

(good used copies can be ordered inexpensively from Amazon.com)

* Linus Pauling Institute Prescription for Health

* Philipp W. Simon, Plant Pigments for Color and Nutrition, published in HortScience 32(1):12-13. 1997.

* Free radicals and antioxidants in normal physiological functions and human disease.

Int J Biochem Cell Biol. 2007;39(1):44-84. Valko M, Leibfritz D, Moncol J, Cronin MT, Mazur M, Telser J. Faculty of Chemical and Food Technology, Slovak Technical University, Bratislava, Slovakia.