Happy to be in the land of Açaí 🙂
Açaí bowls were already my favorite and in my opinion are better than ice cream on a hot summer day. Not only do you get fruit that is packed with anti-aging antioxidants, acai contains a generous amount of vitamin A, some calcium, and smaller amounts of trace minerals like chromium, zinc, iron, copper, manganese, magnesium, potassium and phosphorus.
Just in case you’ve never heard of it the ORAC test measures the antioxidant content of foods and gives each an ORAC (Oxygen radical absorbance capacity) score. In the case of acai, 100 grams of frozen pulp has an ORAC of 15,405, whereas the same amount of blueberries has a score of 4,669.
Funny enough acai is not a berry, it actually contains a pit like apricots so it’s considered a drupe. Because fresh acai berries have a short shelf life and aren’t available outside of where they are grown, they are exported and sold as a frozen fruit purée, dried powder or pressed juice.
The dopest part about the way acai is prepared in Brazil is it is more commonly used with savory meals.
References:
Silva, S., & Tassara, H. (1998). Fruit in Brazil. São Paulo, SP: Empresa das Artes.