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The açaí palm (Template:IPAc-en, {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, from Nheengatu asai),<ref>Template:OED</ref> Euterpe oleracea, is a species of palm tree (Arecaceae) cultivated for its fruit (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 eastern Amazonia, especially in Brazil, mainly in swamps and floodplains. Açaí palms are tall, slender trees growing to more than Template:Convert tall, with pinnate leaves up to Template:Convert long.<ref name=fao>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The fruit is small, round, and black-purple in color. The fruit became a staple food in floodplain areas around the 18th century,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=":0">Template:Cite journal</ref> but its consumption in urban areas and promotion as a health food only began in the mid-1990s along with the popularization of other Amazonian fruits outside the region.<ref name=":0" />
NameEdit
The folk etymology 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Its specific epithet oleracea means "vegetable" in Latin and is a form of Template:Wikt-lang ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
FruitEdit
The fruit, commonly known as açaí or açaí berry,<ref name="Marcason 2009">Template:Cite journal</ref> is a small, round, black-purple drupe about Template:Convert in circumference, similar in appearance to a grape, but smaller and with less pulp and produced in branched panicles of 500 to 900 fruits. The exocarp of the ripe fruits is a deep purple color, or green, depending on the kind of açaí and its maturity. The mesocarp is pulpy and thin, with a consistent thickness of Template:Convert or less. It surrounds the voluminous and hard endocarp, which contains a single large seed about Template:Convert 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.
CultivationEdit
There are two harvests: one is normally between January and June, while the other is between August and December, producing larger volumes.<ref name="Plaza">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2022, the state of Pará, which accounts for 90% of Brazil's total açaí economy, produced Template:Convert of açaí berries, generating US$26 million in revenue.<ref name="cnn">Template:Cite news</ref> The 2022 production was 209 times greater than the volume produced in 2012.<ref name=cnn/>
Child labor concernEdit
Children as young as 13 years old are employed as laborers to harvest the fruit, using machetes to clear paths in the rainforest, and climbing trees up to Template:Convert tall without harnesses to collect berries in the canopy, a process leading to falls and severe injuries in some children.<ref name=cnn/>
CultivarsEdit
Few named cultivars exist, and varieties differ mostly in the nature of the fruit:
- Branco ("White") is a rare variety local to the Amazon estuary in which the berries do not change color, but remain green when ripe. This is believed to be due to a recessive gene since only about 30% of 'Branco' palm seeds mature to express this trait.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
- BRS-Pará was developed in 2004 by the Brazilian Agricultural Research Agency. The pulp yield ranges from 15% to 25%.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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- BRS Pai d'Égua is the newest cultivar developed by the Brazilian Agricultural Research Agency.<ref>Brazilian Agricultural Research Agency</ref>
Nutritional contentEdit
A powdered preparation of freeze-dried açaí fruit pulp and skin was reported to contain (per 100 g of dry powder) 534 calories, 52 g carbohydrates, 8 g protein, and 33 g total fat. The carbohydrate portion included 44 g of dietary fiber with low sugar levels, and the fat portion consisted of oleic acid (56% of total fats), palmitic acid (24%), and linoleic acid (13%).<ref name="schauss2006a">Template:Cite journal</ref> The powder was also shown to contain (per 100 g) negligible vitamin C, 260 mg calcium, 4 mg iron, and 1002 IU vitamin A.<ref name=schauss2006a/>
AnthocyaninsEdit
Anthocyanins define the blue pigmentation of açaí and the antioxidant capacity of the plant's natural defense mechanisms<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and in laboratory experiments in vitro.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Anthocyanins in açaí accounted for only about 10% of the overall antioxidant capacity in vitro.<ref name="lichtenthaler">Template:Cite journal</ref> The Linus Pauling Institute and European Food Safety Authority state that "the relative contribution of dietary flavonoids to (...) antioxidant function in vivo is likely to be very small or negligible".<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Scientific Opinion on the substantiation of health claims related to various food(s)/food constituent(s) and protection of cells from premature aging, antioxidant activity, antioxidant content and antioxidant properties, and protection of DNA, proteins and lipids from oxidative damage pursuant to Article 13(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1924/20061 Template:Webarchive, EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (NDA)2, 3 European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), Parma, Italy, EFSA Journal 2010; 8(2):1489</ref> 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.<ref name="lpi">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="ajcn">Template:Cite journal</ref>
A powdered preparation of freeze-dried açaí fruit pulp and skin was shown to contain cyanidin 3-O-glucoside and cyanidin 3-O-rutinoside as major anthocyanins (3.19 mg/g).<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The powdered preparation was also reported to contain twelve flavonoid-like compounds, including homoorientin, orientin, taxifolin deoxyhexose, isovitexin, scoparin, as well as proanthocyanidins (12.89 mg/g), and low levels of resveratrol (1.1 μg/g).<ref name="schauss2006a" />
MarketingEdit
In the 1980s, the Brazilian Gracie family marketed açaí as an energy drink or as crushed fruit served with granola and bananas; this demand led to the building of cottage industries and processing plants to pulp and freeze açaí for export.<ref name="NY2011" />
ScamsEdit
In the early 2000s, numerous companies advertised açaí products online, with many ads featuring counterfeit testimonials and products.<ref name="NY2011" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="james" /> In 2009, açaí scams were ranked No. 1 on the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's "scams and rip-offs" list, so that by 2011 sales of açaí flattened as the fad waned.<ref name="NY2011" />
According to the Washington, D.C.–based Center for Science in the Public Interest thousands of consumers had trouble stopping recurrent charges on their credit cards when they canceled free trials of some açai-based products.<ref name="adotas1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2003, American celebrity doctor Nicholas Perricone included 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 studiesTemplate:Which.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
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 promoted weight loss and prevented colon cancer. One company, Central Coast Nutraceuticals, was ordered to pay a $1.5 million settlement.<ref name="CR_010912">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="FTC_010912">Template:Cite news</ref>
ProductionEdit
Brazil is a major producer, particularly in the state of Pará, which alone in 2019 produced more than 1.2 million tons of açaí, an amount equal to 95% of Brazil's total.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Chagas diseaseEdit
Several studies have implicated açaí fruit in the transmission of Chagas disease.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> This is a risk when unpasteurized uncleaned fruits are consumed, and has been found in the regions where the fruit is harvested.
UsesEdit
As a food productEdit
Fresh açaí has been consumed as a dietary staple in the region around the Amazon river delta for centuries.<ref name="NY2011">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="Santana">Template:Cite journal</ref> 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, including grain alcohol, smoothies, foods, cosmetics and supplements.<ref name="Plaza" /> In Brazil, it is commonly eaten as {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}.
In a study of three traditional Caboclo populations in the Brazilian 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.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Açaí na tigela (known in English as açaí bowl) is a Brazilian dessert made from frozen açaí berry purée, served in a bowl and topped with other fruit and granola.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Dietary supplementEdit
Template:See also As of 2008, no açaí products have been evaluated by the FDA, and their efficacy is doubtful.<ref name="james">Template:Cite news</ref>
As of 2009, there is no scientific evidence that açaí consumption affects body weight, promotes weight loss or has any positive health effect.<ref name="CSPI">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Açaí oilEdit
Açaí oil is suitable for cooking or as a salad dressing, but is mainly used in cosmetics as shampoos, soaps or skin moisturizers.<ref name="Pacheco-Palencia" />
The oil compartments in açaí fruit contain polyphenols such as procyanidin oligomers and vanillic acid, syringic acid, p-hydroxybenzoic acid, protocatechuic acid, and ferulic acid, which were shown to degrade substantially during storage or exposure to heat.<ref name="Pacheco-Palencia">Template:Cite journal</ref> Although these compounds are under study for potential health effects, there remains no substantial evidence that açaí polyphenols have any effect in humans.<ref name="schauss2006a" /><ref name="Pacheco-Palencia" /> Açaí oil is green in color, has a bland aroma, and is high in oleic and palmitic fatty acids.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Other usesEdit
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.<ref name="Silva">Silva, S. & Tassara, H. (2005). Fruit Brazil Fruit. São Paulo, Brazil, Empresa das Artes</ref> Tree trunks may be processed to yield dietary minerals.<ref>Dyer, A. P. 1996. Latent energy in Euterpe oleracea. Biomass Energy Environ., Proc. Bioenergy Conf. 9th.</ref>
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.<ref name="Silva" /><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Seeds may become waste in landfills or used as fuel for producing bricks.<ref name="Guardian">Template:Cite news</ref>
ResearchEdit
Orally administered açaí has been tested as a contrast agent for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the gastrointestinal system.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Its anthocyanins have also been characterized for stability as a natural food coloring agent.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
GalleryEdit
- Acapalms.jpg
A grove of açaí palms in Brazil
- Cosecha de Naidí.jpg
An açaí harvest
- Sansei açaí! açaí ame.JPG
Japanese açaí candy
See alsoEdit
ReferencesEdit
Further readingEdit
- Template:Cite book
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