Açaí
Parts Used & Where Grown
Clusters of round, dark purple-to-black, berry-shaped açaí fruits are harvested to make juice, ice pops, and herbal supplements. Ethnobotanists have also documented folk medicine uses for the seed oil, fruit rind, and roots. The inner core of the thin trunk of the açaí tree is well-known as the source of hearts of palm. Açaí is primarily grown in the Pará region of the Amazon estuary, in the northern region of Brazil. It also grows in French Guyana, Panama, Ecuador, and Trinidad.
How It Works
Açaí is one of nature’s richest sources of anthocyanins—a type of bioflavonoid. Anthocyanins make up the purple, red, and blue-black pigments found within certain berries, fruits, plants, and flowers. The fruit of açaí also contains protein, fiber, enzymes, vitamin E, amino acids, minerals (potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, copper, manganese, zinc, and boron), phytosterols, and beneficial fatty acids.