Acai berry grows on acai palm trees located in the amazon rain forest of Brazil. It is a small round fruit that looks very much like a grape, but even smaller. The Acai berry itself has a rather large seed, making up about 90% of the berry, and its pulp makes up about 10% of the berry. Despite this, the Acai berry has an exceptional nutrition value content, and is now widely recognized as a health supplement that works as an effective anti oxidant, anti-inflammatory, and helps to improve overall health.
Traditionally, before Acai berry came into the lime-light, it was hand picked, and used mostly locally in Brazil. The berries were used in juice blends, energy drinks, sodas, and other beverages. It was also used as a popular energy drink in Brazil. The Acaiberry has a history dating back thousands of years - where it was first used by the tribes of the Amazon jungle to cure various ailments.
Acaiberry gained immense popularity after it was introduced to the western world because of its many health benefits including cholesterol lowering, powerful anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, excellent nutritional content, high in good fats, high in fiber, promotes stronger immune system, and numerous other health benefits. In this article, we'll take a look at some of the Acai berry studies that have been conducted.
Acai Berry Studies
Acaiberry Study 1 - Monavie Active
In vitro and in vivo antioxidant and anti-inflammatory capacities of an antioxidant-rich fruit and berry juice blend. Results of a pilot and randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, crossover study. Jensen GS, Wu X, Patterson KM, Barnes J, Carter SG, Scherwitz L, Beaman R, Endres JR, Schauss AG.
Holger NIS Inc., 601 13th Avenue N.E., Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2E 1C7.[1]
This study tested the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of a commercial juice blend (MonaVie Active), which contains a mixture of fruits and berries, including Acai berry as its main ingredient. The study was a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, crossover trial with 12 healthy subjects. Blood samples at 1 and 2 hours following consumption of the Monavie Active juice blend as tested for antioxidant capacity.
They found that the antioxidants in the Monavie Active juice blend penetrated and protected cells from oxidative damage. At both 1 and 2 hour intervals, they found that the subjects who took the Monavie Active juice blend showed an increase in serum antioxidants, and also inhibition of lipid peroxidation - Lipid peroxidation refers to the oxidative degradation of lipids. It is the process whereby free radicals "steal" electrons from the lipids in cell membranes, resulting in cell damage.[2]
Acai Juice Study 2
Pharmacokinetics of anthocyanins and antioxidant effects after the consumption of anthocyanin-rich acai juice and pulp (Euterpe oleracea Mart.) in human healthy volunteers. Mertens-Talcott SU, Rios J, Jilma-Stohlawetz P, Pacheco-Palencia LA, Meibohm B, Talcott ST, Derendorf H.
Department of Veterinary Physiology and Pharmacology, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, USA.[3]
This study performed a 4 way crossover trial with Acai pulp and Acai juice compared to applesauce, and a placebo non-antioxidant drink. 12 healthy volunteers consumed 7ml/kg of the beverages after a washout phase and an overnight fasting period. Their plasma was sampled repeated over a 12 hour period, and urine sampled over a 24 hour period after consuming the beverages. They found that plasma antioxidant capacity was significantly increased by the Acai juice and acai pulp, where the test subjects had an increase in plasma antioxidant capacity of up to 2.3 and 3 fold, respectively.
Acai Berry Study 3 - OptiAcai
Antioxidant capacity and other bioactivities of the freeze-dried Amazonian palm berry, Euterpe oleraceae mart. (acai). Schauss AG, Wu X, Prior RL, Ou B, Huang D, Owens J, Agarwal A, Jensen GS, Hart AN, Shanbrom E. Natural and Medicinal Products Research, AIMBR Life Sciences, 4117 South Meridian, Puyallup, Washington 98373, USA.[4]
This study evaluated the antioxidant capacities of freeze-dried acai fruit pulp powder (OptiAcai). The researchers found that it had exceptional activity against superoxide - "the highest of any food reported to date against the peroxyl radical as measured by the oxygen radical absorbance capacity assay with fluorescein as the fluorescent probe". It was also found that Acai had mild activity against both the peroxynitrite and hydroxyl radicals. What's noteworthy is that Acai antioxidants are able to enter human cells in fully functional form. Below is a direct quote from the study:
In the total antioxidant (TAO) assay, antioxidants in acai were differentiated into "slow-acting" and "fast-acting" components. An assay measuring inhibition of reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation in freshly purified human neutrophils showed that antioxidants in acai are able to enter human cells in a fully functional form and to perform an oxygen quenching function at very low doses.
The study also investigated the bioactivities related to anti-inflammatory and immune functions of Acai, and it was found to be a potential cyclooxygenase (COX)-1 and COX-2 inhibitor. (Inhibition of COX can provide relief from symptoms of inflammation and pain).
Acai Berry Juice Study 4
Comparison of antioxidant potency of commonly consumed polyphenol-rich beverages in the United States. Seeram NP, Aviram M, Zhang Y, Henning SM, Feng L, Dreher M, Heber D.
Center for Human Nutrition, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA.[5]
This study involves evaluation the antioxidant potency of several commonly consumed polyphenol rich beverages including pomegranate juice, apple juice, Acai juice, black cherry juice, blueberry juice, red wines, iced tea, black tea, green tea, and white tea. An overall antioxidant potency composite index was calculated for each of these, and it was found that the pomegranate juice had the highest antioxidant potency - at least 20% higher than any of the other beverages. They ranked the beverages in the following order of antioxidant potency:
Pomegranate juice > red wine > Concord grape juice > blueberry juice > black cherry juice, açaí juice, cranberry juice > orange juice, iced tea beverages, apple juice
The above are just a handful of the many studies done on the antioxidant potency of Acai - there are many more which are not listed here, but the general theme is that Acai is a potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory, and has numerous health benefits.
1. J Agric Food Chem. 2008 Sep 24;56(18):8326-33. Epub 2008 Aug 22.
In vitro and in vivo antioxidant and anti-inflammatory capacities of an antioxidant-rich fruit and berry juice blend. Results of a pilot and randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, crossover study.
Jensen GS, Wu X, Patterson KM, Barnes J, Carter SG, Scherwitz L, Beaman R, Endres JR, Schauss AG.
Holger NIS Inc., 601 13th Avenue N.E., Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2E 1C7.
3. J Agric Food Chem. 2008 Sep 10;56(17):7796-802. Epub 2008 Aug 12.
Pharmacokinetics of anthocyanins and antioxidant effects after the consumption of anthocyanin-rich acai juice and pulp (Euterpe oleracea Mart.) in human healthy volunteers.
Mertens-Talcott SU, Rios J, Jilma-Stohlawetz P, Pacheco-Palencia LA, Meibohm B, Talcott ST, Derendorf H.
Department of Veterinary Physiology and Pharmacology, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, USA. smtalcott@tamu.edu
4. J Agric Food Chem. 2006 Nov 1;54(22):8604-10.
Antioxidant capacity and other bioactivities of the freeze-dried Amazonian palm berry, Euterpe oleraceae mart. (acai).
Schauss AG, Wu X, Prior RL, Ou B, Huang D, Owens J, Agarwal A, Jensen GS, Hart AN, Shanbrom E.
Natural and Medicinal Products Research, AIMBR Life Sciences, 4117 South Meridian, Puyallup, Washington 98373, USA. alex@aibmr.com
5. J Agric Food Chem. 2008 Feb 27;56(4):1415-22. Epub 2008 Jan 26.
Comparison of antioxidant potency of commonly consumed polyphenol-rich beverages in the United States.
Seeram NP, Aviram M, Zhang Y, Henning SM, Feng L, Dreher M, Heber D.
Center for Human Nutrition, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA.
