The Power Berry
 Acai (lat.: Euterpe olerace) is a small dark-red to black berry. It grows on 25 m high Acai palm trees. The seed of the Acai berry is really “king-size”: it takes about 80% of the whole fruit! The Acai palm trees mainly occur in the lower Amazon region, in the Federal state Pará. Its berry clusters can carry as many as 6 kg of fruits. The harvest appears to be really hard work: natives climb up the thin trunks, cut off the berry clusters and from there climb on hand over hand to the next palm tree.
Due to its high nutritional value, Acai juice is considered to be one of the most important food components in the entire Amazon region. Within the last years its properties turned it to an outstanding power drink for sportsmen, and also a reliable component of any diet. Even the seeds are used as all-rounders: as seed,
as animal food and even as decorative jewellery.
The production of Acai has become a real income market in Brazil. Native farmers – especially small family farms - have actually found their bread-and-butter and a secure job. The harvesting of berry clusters does not cause any damage to the palm tree, whereas for the production of the highly favoured palm hearts - “Palmitos” – the whole tree must be hewn down. So - if we refrain from buying Palmitos, we actively support the protection of the valuable Acai palm trees. Thus the Acai berry – obtaining such high ecological and nutritional preferences – appears to be one of the greatest treasures of the Amazon region. Meanwhile the extraordinarily valuable composition of the berry has raised a real Acai boom even in Europe: its outstanding nutritional value and its content of highly effective anti-oxidants have made it a “TOP-Food”.
Anti-oxidants (cell-protecting plant substances)
The Acai fruit contains a very high percentage of the anti-oxidative anthocyanin (which belongs to the polyphenol or short: phenolics group). Anthocyanin is also contained in red wine. Physical and mental strain, malnutrition, abuse of alcohol and smoking support the development of free radicals. Free radicals are likely to afflict our immune system harmfully and expedite the ageing process. Anti-oxidants help to neutralize those free radicals.
Quality: For more than one year we have been investigating the Acai theme very intensively. And we have managed to offer the best quality Acai powder all over Brazil – an Acai powder, which fulfills all criteria of a supreme product.
- Our Acai supplier has got over 10 years of practice and great know-how.
- Just after the harvest our berries are transported to the manufacturing plant, a fact which is extremely important, since harvested berries are highly perishable.
- To provide superior quality, the berries are selected manually before the production.
- Fresh Acai berries obtain a rather high percentage of antioxidants. To produce a powder of the same quality, the percentage of fresh berries has to be increased, what means, that 5 kg of fresh berries are needed to produce 1 kg of Acai extract.
- The powder is of the same characteristic dark violet colour as are the berries.
Conclusion: The production of the Acai powder requires a great deal of work and costs. However, that is the only reliable way to provide a first class product to our customers. We have visited many production facilities in Brazil, and it is a matter of fact, that low price products do not fulfill any of the criteria mentioned above.
• Acai Extract - How it is made
 AMAZONAS Acai Product Details
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ACEROLA,
