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The acai is known to have powerful antioxidant properties. During a test in vitro, the phenols and anthocyanins, known for their antioxidant power, have been extracted from the fruit.
The acai (Euterpe oleracea) is a palm that grows in the Amazon in northern Brazil. It is known by the natives under the name of ICA-cai, which means “fruit that cries.” Its fruit is a purple bay with concentrations of anthocyanins, powerful antioxidants, higher than those found in red wine. The berries of the acai is also an excellent source of calcium, iron, vitamins B1, B2 and B3, vitamin C and E and essential fatty acids. They are also rich in fiber.

The legend of the acai

Once upon a time there lived a young Indian called Amazon Laca. His father was the head of a tribe that had grown so much that there was not enough food for all its people. The chief then ordered that all newborns should be killed. Her daughter gave birth to a child after that decision had been taken. Laca wept alone in his tent for days, the death of her child. One evening, she had the impression that it wanted a baby crying. When out in search of the child, she saw a palm tree out of the earth, covered with fruit. Full of despair, she lay down under the tree and died. The next day, the tribe discovered the body of Laca under the new tree. Fruit rassasièrent their hunger and redonnèrent all their energy. The head then repealed the cruel decree and declared that these fruits would name her daughter. With the abundance of food, the tribe grows and flourishes and, for decades, the acai is appreciated by the people of Brazil. In the 1950s, doctors began to realize that acai could be beneficial to health it is what we can call acai burn.

For hundreds of years, the acai berry are part of the traditional diet of the natives of the Amazon. The acai is also part of their folklore, having made its way both in the legends as food or traditional medicine.
Brazilians traditionally used to treat digestive disorders and skin diseases.

A powerful antioxidant

The dark purple color of the fruit is due to the presence of phenolic compounds. Studies show that the skin of the berries contains ten to thirty times the anthocyanin content of wine rouge1.
The acai fruits or acaiburn is known to have powerful antioxidant properties. During a test in vitro, the phenols and anthocyanins, known for their antioxidant power, have been extracted from the fruit.

The ORAC value of acai (an evaluation of antioxidant power) is one of the highest found in extracts of fruit.
The antioxidant capacity of 11 samples of pulp of acai berries were studied against three reactive oxygen species different. The antioxidant properties of all samples was excellent against peroxyl radicals, good against peroxynitrite and the poor against hydroxyl radicals compared to fruit juices and vegetables in Europe recently analyzed. In all cases, the correlation between the concentration of the samples and the antioxidant capacity was not linear.

Phenolic compounds of purple pulp of acai berry have been identified by high performance liquid chromatography and the two main anthocyanidines the cyanidine-3-glucoside and cyanidine-3-Rutoside were quantified. The contribution of anthocyanins to the total antioxidant power was measured at only 10%. It seems clear that other compounds not yet identified are responsible for most of the antioxidant capacity of the pulp of the berry acai2.

The beneficial effects of anthocyanins

Studies show that anthocyanins have a positive influence on a variety of health problems. One reason for this influence lies in their anti-inflammatory properties that affect collagen and the nervous system. Their ability to protect both small and large blood vessels of oxidative damage derives from a set of effects, including mitigating the damage of microvessels caused by high levels of blood sugar, which are responsible for complications of diabetes.

Inflammation and collagen

Enzymes cause damage in connective tissue in capillaries which happened during inflammation, causing an infiltration of blood into surrounding tissues. Oxidants are released and further damage caused to the walls of blood vessels. Anthocyanins protect in several ways.

Nervous system

The anti-inflammatory effects of anthocyanins help to explain many of their protective effects. The brain is particularly vulnerable to oxidative damage. It is believed that residues of tyrosine nitration by peroxynitrite in enzymes and proteins are a major cause of brain damage in neurodegenerative diseases and brain trauma. Tyrosine nitrated blocks receptor sites of nerve growth factors, thereby preventing neural growth and inhibiting repair. Preventing nitration of tyrosine, anthocyanins may help protect from neurological diseases. It has even been shown that blueberry supplementation could, in animals, reverse neurological deficits related to âge4.

Blood vessels

Anthocyanins prevent a key step in atherogenesis: oxidation of LDL. Second, anthocyanins protect the integrity of the endothelial cells that line the walls of blood vessels. In addition, anthocyanins relax blood vessels.
Furthermore, anthocyanins help to maintain the integrity microcapillaire by stabilizing the walls of capillaries.

Diabetes

The lesions on microvessels caused by high levels of blood sugar are responsible for most complications of diabetes. Collagen proteins bind with sugars with the result of abnormal collagen in blood vessels. In a German study, 12 adult diabetics took 600 mg daily for two months anthocyanins. After supplementation, the production of abnormal collagen was significantly diminué5.

One of the most serious complications of diabetes is retinopathy which can lead to blindness. Retinopathy occurs when the body is unable to repair damaged hair and when there is an overproduction of abnormal proteins. Anthocyanins prevent capillaries leak and prevent the proliferation of abnormal proteins. In an Italian study, 30 of 40 subjects with retinopathy showed an improvement after taking 120 mg anthocyanins daily for several weeks. No improvement was observed in subjects témoins6.

Action on cancer cells

Many scientists argue that data is an association between consumption of fruits and vegetables rich in polyphenolic compounds and the reduced incidence of certain cancers. An in vitro étude7, conducted at the University of Florida, examined the effects of polyphenols in acai berry on the antiproliferative and apoptosis of human leukemia cells.

It shows an excerpt of acai berry destroys cancer cells in human culture. Specifically, she indicated that the extract triggered a response of self in 86% of leukemia cells tested.
Another study, also conducted at the University of Florida, should study the effects of the acai antioxidants on human subjects. It should determine how the ingredients are absorbed into the blood and how they affect blood pressure, cholesterol levels and other parameters.
So far, only fundamental research has been done on the acai berry which contain at least 50 to 75 components not yet identified. The reason that we know too little about the acai berry is that they are highly perishable and used as soon as picked. Only in recent years that there are products named acai berry diet processed from acai berry.