Açaí palm

Theaçaí palm(/əˈsaɪ.iː/,Portuguese:[asaˈi],fromNheengatuasai),Euterpeoleracea, is a species ofpalm tree(Arecaceae) cultivated for itsfruit(açaí berries, or simply açaí),hearts of palm(a vegetable), leaves, and trunk wood. Global demand for the fruit has expanded rapidly in the 21st century, and the tree is cultivated for that purpose primarily.
The species is native to easternAmazonia, especially in Brazil, mainly inswampsandfloodplains. Açaí palms are tall, slender trees growing to more than 25 m (82 ft) tall, withpinnateleaves up to 3 m (9.8 ft) long.The fruit is small, round, and black-purple in color. The fruit became astaple foodin floodplain areas around the 18th century,but its consumption inurban areasand promotion as ahealth foodonly began in the mid 1990s along with the popularization of other Amazonian fruits outside the region.
The common name comes from thePortugueseadaptation of theTupianwordĩwasa'i, meaning "[fruit that] cries or expels water".The importance of the fruit as a staple food in theAmazon Riverdeltagives rise to the local legend of how the plant got its name. The folklore says that chief Itaqui ordered all newborns put to death owing to a period of famine. When his own daughter gave birth and the child was sacrificed, she cried and died beneath a newly sprouted tree. The tree fed the tribe and was called açaí because that was the daughter's name (Iaçá) spelled backwards.
Itsspecific epithetoleraceameans "vegetable" in Latin and is a form ofholeraceus(oleraceus).
The fruit, commonly known as açaí or açaí berry,is a small, round, black-purpledrupeabout 25 mm (1 in) in circumference, similar in appearance to a grape, but smaller and with less pulp and produced in branchedpaniclesof 500 to 900 fruits. Theexocarpof the ripe fruits is a deep purple color, or green, depending on the kind of açaí and its maturity. Themesocarpis pulpy and thin, with a consistent thickness of 1 mm (0.04 in) or less. It surrounds the voluminous and hardendocarp, which contains a single largeseedabout 7–10 mm (0.3–0.4 in) in diameter. The seed makes up about 60–80% of the fruit. The palm bears fruit year round but the berry cannot be harvested during the rainy season.
There are two harvests: one is normally between January and June, while the other is between August and December, producing larger volumes.In 2022, the state ofPará, which accounts for 90% of Brazil's total açaí economy, produced 8,158 tonnes (17,985,000 lb) of açaí berries, generating US$26 million in revenue.The 2022 production was 209 times greater than the volume produced in 2012.
Children as young as 13 years old are employed aslaborersto harvest the fruit, usingmachetesto clear paths in therainforest, and climbing trees up to 70 feet (21 m) tall without harnesses to collect berries in the canopy, a process leading to falls and severe injuries in some children.
Few namedcultivarsexist, andvarietiesdiffer mostly in the nature of the fruit:
A powdered preparation of freeze-dried açaí fruit pulp and skin was reported to contain (per 100 g of dry powder) 534calories, 52 gcarbohydrates, 8 gprotein, and 33 g totalfat. The carbohydrate portion included 44 g ofdietary fiberwith low sugar levels, and the fat portion consisted ofoleic acid(56% of total fats),palmitic acid(24%), andlinoleic acid(13%).The powder was also shown to contain (per 100 g) negligiblevitamin C, 260 mgcalcium, 4 mgiron, and 1002IUvitamin A.
Anthocyaninsdefine the bluepigmentationof açaí and theantioxidantcapacity of the plant's naturaldefense mechanismsand in laboratory experimentsin vitro.Anthocyanins in açaí accounted for only about 10% of the overall antioxidant capacity in vitro.TheLinus Pauling InstituteandEuropean Food Safety Authoritystate that "the relative contribution of dietaryflavonoidsto (...) antioxidant function in vivo is likely to be very small or negligible".Unlike in controlled test tube conditions, anthocyanins have been shown to be poorly conserved (less than 5%)in vivo, and most of what is absorbed exists as chemically modified metabolites destined for rapid excretion.
A powdered preparation offreeze-driedaçaí fruit pulp and skin was shown to containcyanidin 3-O-glucosideandcyanidin 3-O-rutinosideas major anthocyanins (3.19 mg/g).The powdered preparation was also reported to contain twelve flavonoid-like compounds, includinghomoorientin,orientin,taxifolindeoxyhexose,isovitexin, scoparin, as well asproanthocyanidins(12.89 mg/g), and low levels ofresveratrol(1.1 μg/g).
In the 1980s, the BrazilianGracie familymarketed açaí as an energy drink or as crushed fruit served with granola and bananas; this demand led to the building ofcottage industriesand processing plants to pulp and freeze açaí for export.
In the early 2000s, numerous companies advertised açaí products online, with many ads featuringcounterfeittestimonialsand products.In 2009, açaí scams were ranked No. 1 on theU.S. Federal Trade Commission's "scams and rip-offs" list, so that by 2011 sales of açaí flattened as thefadwaned.
According to the Washington, D.C.–basedCenter for Science in the Public Interestthousands of consumers had trouble stopping recurrent charges on their credit cards when they canceled free trials of some açai-based products.In 2003, American celebrity doctorNicholas Perriconeincluded açaí berries among"superfoods", but such extravagant marketing claims regarding açaí as miracle cures for everything from obesity to attention-deficit disorder were challenged in subsequent studies.
The FTC handed down an $80 million judgement in January 2012 against five companies that were marketing açaí berry supplements with fraudulent claims that their products promotedweight lossand preventedcolon cancer. One company, Central Coast Nutraceuticals, was ordered to pay a $1.5 million settlement.
Brazilis a major producer, particularly in the state ofPará, which alone in 2019 produced more than 1.2 million tons of açaí, an amount equal to 95% of Brazil's total.
Fresh açaí has been consumed as a dietary staple in the region around theAmazon river deltafor centuries.The fruit is processed into pulp for supply to food product manufacturers or retailers, sold as frozen pulp, juice, or an ingredient in various products from beverages, includinggrain alcohol,smoothies, foods,cosmeticsandsupplements.In Brazil, it is commonly eaten asaçaí na tigela.
In a study of three traditionalCaboclopopulations in theBrazilian Amazon, açaí palm was described as the most important plant species because the fruit makes up a major component of their diet, up to 42% of the total food intake by weight.
Açaí na tigela(known in English asaçaí bowl) is a Brazilian dessert made from frozen açaí berry purée, served in a bowl and topped with other fruit and granola.
As of 2008, no açaí products have been evaluated by theFDA, and their efficacy is doubtful.
As of 2009, there is no scientific evidence that açaí consumption affects body weight, promotes weight loss or has any positive health effect.
Açaí oil is suitable for cooking or as asalad dressing, but is mainly used incosmeticsasshampoos,soapsor skinmoisturizers.
The oil compartments in açaí fruit containpolyphenolssuch asprocyanidinoligomers andvanillic acid,syringic acid,p-hydroxybenzoic acid,protocatechuic acid, andferulic acid, which were shown to degrade substantially during storage or exposure to heat.Although these compounds are under study for potential health effects, there remains no substantial evidence that açaí polyphenols have any effect in humans.Açaí oil is green in color, has a bland aroma, and is high inoleicandpalmiticfatty acids.
Leaves of the palm may be made into hats, mats, baskets, brooms and roof thatch for homes, and trunk wood, resistant to pests, for building construction.Tree trunks may be processed to yielddietary minerals.
Comprising 80% of the fruit mass, açaí 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, can require months to form seedlings.Seeds may become waste in landfills or used as fuel for producing bricks.
Orally administered açaí has been tested as acontrast agentformagnetic resonance imaging(MRI) of thegastrointestinalsystem.Itsanthocyaninshave also been characterized for stability as a naturalfood coloringagent.