Having personally tasted fresh Acai in the jungle along the banks of an Amazon tributary, I can confirm that the Acai fruit is real and here to stay. The versatility of this fruit as it transforms from a savory dish to a sweet dessert to an incredible drink speaks to the uniqueness of this aptly named “Super Food.” The acai palm and its fruit have been around for an indeterminate time. However, the fruit and its discovery have been documented.
Acai (Euterpr Oleracea) is “indehiscent”, meaning the fruit does not split open on its own to release seeds. It is a fleshy or fleshy, indehiscent, superficially berry-like fruit in which a seed is enclosed in a pit as in cherries. It was first described as a “berry” in late 1769 by Joseph Banks, one of the world’s greatest botanists. He noted in his journal and described Acai as “palm berries (which) look very much like black grapes, but to eat they have hardly any pulp covering a very large stone.”
Acai is known to have been used as a staple food since pre-colonial times in the Amazon jungle. The indigenous people of the area tell the legend of Iaca or Acai that originated during the pre-colonial era of northern Brazil. They claim that it was a fruit discovered by fate during very desperate times in the jungle. Legend states that the discovery of Acai literally saved the Indian tribes from death. Acai has been documented in the writings of British, Portuguese, and American explorers of the Amazon during the 18th and 19th centuries during the Age of Enlightenment.” In each respective report of the discovery of acai by these intrepid expeditionary naturalists, the fruit is described as having been harvested and eaten the same way it is eaten today in that area.Acai was only recently introduced to the rest of Brazil in the 1980s. Until then it was eaten raw in its earthiest form as a local savory dish – nothing you fancy little raw acai and cooked fish.
During the 1980s, Acai morphed into “Acai Da Tigela” or acai bowl. This form of Acai was not the staple of the raw land of the Amazon, but a more commercially accepted form of the fruit. To make it more commercially acceptable, sugar and guarana, a natural form of caffeine and a popular ingredient in guarana soft drinks, were added to the Acai and then frozen into a sherbet-like portion. The exotic sweetly energizing purple treat grew in popularity throughout the beachside resorts in Rio de Janeiro. This popularity spread both south towards the more business-oriented area of São Paulo and north towards its origin, the Amazon. This diffusion of Acai in the form of sorbets, jams and ice creams occurred mainly in the coastal areas of Brazil.
It was in the 1990s that a pair of brothers from Southern California on a surf vacation in Brazil first tried acai in this form. They fell in love with the taste. This love of acai fueled his budding entrepreneurial skills, and acai was soon introduced commercially to the United States. Since then, acai has been adopted and promoted by many different companies. It has become widely available in powder, pill, and juice forms. The fresh acai fruit is unsellable in the United States due to its tendency to spoil quickly after harvest. Many of these companies selling acai in North America are simply marketing companies cashing in on a widespread acai frenzy spurred by televised exposure on Oprah’s show. Its then “guru”, Dr. Oz, praised the nutritional benefits of acai and declared it the perfect “superfood”. These companies have given the Acai fruit a bad name by exaggerating the benefits of the fruit as a magic weight loss solution and trapping consumers into expensive credit card charging schemes. Many of these companies have been identified and are being held accountable for their illegal activities by the attorneys general of many states and by Oprah and Dr. Oz themselves.
There are still many very good and reputable companies that are working hard to continue to bring very good Acai products to the public. Acai has many good and beneficial qualities that promote good health. Just as the fruit sustained the wild Indian tribes of the Amazon jungle, we too can enjoy the Acai fruit as a dietary supplement that can sustain us in our modern world. Amazingly, antioxidants (boost immune health), monosaturated fats (the good ones), fiber (good for both cardiovascular and digestive health), phytosterols, and amino acids (boost muscle contraction) work together synergistically to provide an anti-inflammatory result. Many of our disease processes today are inflammatory diseases. In our world of so much pollution and overexposure to unhealthy elements, we have rediscovered the power of antioxidants. Acai is a very good source of antioxidants that have been shown to be easily absorbed into the human bloodstream. It’s truly amazing to realize that the old adage “the more things change, the more they stay the same” is just as true as it is with Acai. A fruit that once gave life to a dying tribe of jungle Indians brings life to the modern world for those who will add Acai to their diet as a dietary supplement.
