Acai Palm is a fruit found in Central and Southern America growing in the swamplands and floodplains. The fruit is a small, round, black-purple drupe approximately one inch in diameter; similar in size and shape to a grape with less pulp. It grows in banched panicles of 700-900 fruits. Two crops of fruit are produced each year. There is a large seed inside between 0.25 inch and 0.40 inch inside.
The powder preparation of freeze-dried acai fruit contains (per 100g of extract) 533.9 calories, 52.2g of carbohydrates, 8.1g of protein, 32.5g of total fat. The carbohydrate portion included 44.2g of dietary fiber. It has 200 mg of calcium, 4.4 mg of iron, and 1002 U vitamin A, as well as aspartic acid, glutamic acid. The amino acid was 7.59% of total dry weight.
A powdered preparation of freeze-dried acai fruit and skins was shown to contain anthocyanins. It was also shown to contain twelve flavonoid-like compounds including homoorietins, orientin, taxifolin, deoxyhexose, isovitxetin, scoparin, as well as proanthocyanidins, and resveratrol.
Freeze-dried acai powder is shown to have hgh antioxidant activity against superoxide, and peroxyl radicals, and milder activity for peroxynitrate and hydroxyl radicals. The powder was reported to inhibit hydrogen-peroxide-induced oxidation in neutrophils, and have a slight stimulatory effect on nitric oxide production by lipopolysaccharide-stimulated macrophages in vitro. Extracts of acai seeds were reported to have antioxidant capacity against peroxyl radicals, similar to the capacity of the pulp with higher antioxidant capacity against peroxynitrate and hydroxyl radicals.
Freeze-dried acai powder is shown to have mild inhibitory effects on cyclooxygenase enzymes COX-1 and COX-2, and chemically extracted polyphenolic -rich fractions from acai were reported to reduce proliferation of HL-60 (experimental Leukemia) cells in vitro. In vitro anti-proliferative were also observed with extracts from acai pulp oil. In other words, it can help prevent cancer!
In general acai can help with several health problems and promote well being such as:
- Lowering bad cholesterol
- Maintaining levels of good cholesterol
- Restoring antioxidants in the body
- Protecting body from disease
- Strengthening visual acuity
- Digesting food
- Assisting body chemical reactions
- Strengthening immune system
- Helping sleeping disorders
- Detoxifying the body
This is just one of the 23 superfoods combined in Jus. I will be posting the other 22 each day. For more information about Jus please visit my website.
Tags: Acai, Antioxidant, cholesterol, fiber, Fruit, health, immune system, Jus, radical
