Acai Berry Supplements

In recent years, once introduced on the market in the US, Acai Berry has created a truly out of the common phenomenon among the consumers, that have even led it to be called the number one super-food in the world. Perhaps that the diversified character of the market supplying the product and efficient commercial strategies have led it to become this popular. At least in part, it is also the effect of media VIPs that generated the popularity of a fruit originating on the coasts of Brazil in South America.

The Acai Berry is the fruit of the Acai Palm that belongs to a class called "Euterpe", and eight-member family of related trees. At the top of the tree there are panicles of fruit, called berries by the natives; although the natives used to mainly chop down the tree and profit from the wood as construction material, the new introduced industry proved far more profitable and chopping mainly ceased. Instead new palm-farms erupted, where seeds from inside the fruit are used to grow new Acai Palms in order to harvest the fruit and supply the high demand for it on the mainland.

The problem with the fruit is basically simple: it is perishable, especially if exposed to direct sunlight. Thus the only reasonable way of exploiting it was to build facilities that would process the fruit as soon as harvested, as near to the place of harvest as possible. After doing so, the market was invaded with a diversified range of products containing the much desired Acai Berry extract inside in various forms.

The chemical composition of the fruit is now known, and many positive aspects of it have been inferred due to the chemical composition. Since consumers had various preferences the extract was conditioned in many forms. There are two main categories of Acai Berry products: fresh and dried. The fresh products include Acai Berry Juice, Acai Berry Smoothie Packs, Acai Berry Energy Drinks, Acai Berry Puree and Acai Berry Wine. The dried products include Acai Berry Preservatives, Acai Berry Supplements (pills) and Acai Berry Powdered Extracts. The list is not exhaustive and perhaps that as we speak many other forms of distributing the original Acai fruit are being thought of and applied.

Whenever talking of an Acai Berry product but especially of the fresh ones a certain warning must be issued. Since scientific studies have not been performed on the product probably because there is no reason to question its safety so far, the FDA does not impose labeling of Acai Berry products at a certain percentage in composition. That means, that most of the Acai Berry products are highly impure, actually consisting of mixture of Acai Berry juice for example and other juices, or in the case of Puree a mixture of different squashed fruits. This is by far a commercial measure, since obtaining pure Acai in large quantities is far more expensive. Actually there are also pure Acai Berry products, case in which they are labeled so and the price will vary accordingly. The safety of the product is not questioned as previously mentioned since natives on the South American continent have been making the berries part of their diet for hundreds of years, some stating that by mass the berries can reach up to more than 40% of their daily diet. On the other hand we do not usually hear about limiting fruit consumption, on the contrary it is systematically encouraged by everybody.

Acai Berry Juice, either pure or as a mixed formula contains the juice coming from the squeezed fruit. It should be taken into consideration that the composition of the initial Acai Berry can be severely altered when being combined with some other fruit juice. On the other hand, the chemical analysis of the fruit yielded that except for vitamin A that it is plentiful in, it really lacks other vitamins especially C vitamin. So then combining Acai Berry Juice with others might even boost its quality partially. The juice is rich in anti-oxidative compounds, phytosterols and although coming from the pulp and not from the seed, carries the same healthy omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acid ratio, with preponderance of the omega-3 fraction. This is important due to the positive effects on cardiovascular profile, by inhibiting the formation of atherosclerotic plaques. The anti-oxidative compounds are also helpful in many cases.

Acai Berry Smoothie Packs consist of frozen packs with juicy berries inside. This is because some prefer to see and eat the fruit by itself than drink its juice. Since they are preserved by freezing it is expected that they do contain a very similar biochemical composition to the initial fruit, and logically that they keep most of the properties unaltered. At the same time freezing slows the fermentation process, keeping the taste as close as possible to the original; it might be hard to believe but many people have stated that the taste most similar to the Acai Berry is that of chocolate.

Acai Energy drinks were introduced as a natural consequence of the fruit's rich sugar content. At the same time, Brazilian judo fighters have been long known to use Acai Berry meals before competitions claiming that it improves the overall stamina. Marathon runners as well, state that Acai Berry improves long-term energy, but at the same time advise to limiting the consumed quantity to a maximum of 4 oz per day. Not only the 52.2 grams of sugar per 100 grams of product enhance energy in case of the Acai Berry but also the high percentage of fatty acids. The last major compound, amino acids are thought by sportsmen to be the last thing needed to turn the berries into a perfect energy drink, since they aid in muscle reconstruction after intense effort.

Acai Berry Puree is a fluid mass consisting of mashed berries within their own juice. It can be consumed on its own, preferably cold, or might be used as topping. At the same time it can be boiled down and turned into a thicker mass, resembling some sort of jelly than can be served as desert or used in bakery. The puree, just like the smoothies does not undergo any chemical or mechanical processing other than mashing and then being bottled, and thus consistently preserves the quality of the initial fruit.

Acai Berry Wine is an alternative for non-alcoholic beverage consumers that feel the need to drink a smooth, refreshing drink. It is actually Acai Berry Juice that has been fermented in a controlled manner, in order to give it an intermediate sweet-sour taste. It can also be employed in order to make syrup or fillings.

The indisputable advantage of the dried products it their ability to be preserved over time. In fact, as a paradox, Acai Berry extracts themselves act as preservatives because of the intense anti-oxidative properties of the chemical compounds inside. Laboratory tests proved that the anti-oxidative capacity is excellent against superoxide and peroxyl radicals, elevated against peroxynitrite but quite reduced concerning hydroxyl radicals. In this way, when Acai Berry powder is added to another product it enhances its life term by the natural occurring preservatives within.

The Acai Berry Supplements are probably the second most wanted products after the Juice and Smoothies, since they come in a very handy, comfortable way of handling. It was previously questioned whether using pills as a way of distributing Acai Berry does not alter the properties of the initial fruit; however the most sensible chemicals inside the berries are vitamins, which in fact are in a very low concentration. Except for vitamin A that counted to a high 1002 U per 100 g of berries it seems that the berries really lack vitamins, especially vitamin C. This is of no concern however, since vitamins can be obtained from other sources and since we do not really care about the vitamins inside the berries it means that they can be safely processed in order to offer us the other beneficial compounds like for example the anti-oxidative chemicals that do persist after processing. So basically it is of no qualitative importance whether some buy fresh berries and others prefer the more comfortable distribution method of the pills. The true difference is in the experience of the taste, which as described earlier can be unique, since many claim that these berries taste like chocolate.

Yet another form of dried Acai Berry products exists, the powdered supplements. These as previously shown do have a preservative capacity, though Acai Berry preservatives are usually impure Acai Berry products and the powder of the berries is mixed with other even more potent preservatives. The powder however is usually employed as a base for syrup than can be reformed when adding water, or for example it can be watered, then poured into shapes and turned into Acai Berry flavoured ice-cream. At the same time it can be incorporated inside fillings and used in a wide range of berry-flavored bakery products.

No matter the product desire the consumer should always keep in mind that the benefits of an Acai Berry based diet are questionable, the lack of scientific evidence being more than enough to throw suspicion upon the so-called "Acai miracle". Beyond the circumspection upon the fruit, its nutritional value cannot be ignored, nor can we ignore the unique taste of it. Another thing that would probably be much fairer towards the consumer is a precise FDA labeling rule, than would oblige the distribuitors to mention the quantity of Acai Berry extract present within any kind of impure product; this would also imply that the term "Acai Berry product" could be applied only from a starting percentage in weight of Acai, thus ensuring us than what we consume is truly representative in Acai Berry content.