Acai Berry

Acai Color Purple

November 17th, 2008

All the best ideas come from nature. All the best ideas are simple. Take the nutritional labeling of foods for example. A simple color code to tell the buyer exactly how good, or not so good the product they are buying really is. A really good idea taken straight from nature because vegetables and fruit come in myriad colors and the more colorful they are the better they tend to be for us. The acai berry juice from the acai palm berry is a rich deep purple color and it is as if the fruit itself is calling out to us “hey look at me, I’m the best possible thing you can eat”!

The acai berry is loaded with chemical substances called anthocyanins. They give it it’s ‘come eat me ‘ color because they are flexible and abundant flavorful coloring agents. They are found in the red to purplish fruits and vegetables, such as the acai, the purple cabbage, beet roots, blueberries, cherries, raspberries and black grapes. Inside the plants they act as preserving antioxidants and colorings giving to the beautiful healthy hues of edible fruits.

Unfortunately some crazy organizations mix the acai berry juice with others. It all started with the guarana syrup which has caffeine as an ingredient. Then others took up the idea that caffeine could enhance the already perfect. So instead of sticking with the natural way of judging by the color you have to be really careful about what you eat and drink by reading the labels in detail.

The anthocyanins in the acai berry juice and pulp deteriorates very quickly. So, for the best nutritional value, acai juice should never be cooked, rather eaten as it comes as an enhancer to ice cream, or the key ingredient of something normally refrigerated like smoothies. Acai juice must always be kept refrigerated to keep its true health values.

Because the nutritional value drops hugely when heat is applied, you can get the most benefits of acai from the pulp as a frozen product. Freezers should always be kept at minus eighteen degrees and stock rotated within 3 months at the most.  Allow your acai pulp to soften and thaw while at room temperature for about an hour. Then crush it and add it to your favorite extras or put it into a blender to break it down further.

Entry Filed under: About Acai Berry