Euterpe oleracea Mart.

Arecaceae (Palmae)

Cabbage palm fruit

Fruit and pressed fruit juice

The main chemical compounds of açaí include a range of fatty acids and polyphenols, most notably anthocyanins and flavonoids. The main polyunsaturated, monounsaturated and saturated fatty acids include oleic (56.2%), palmitic (24.1%) and linoleic acid (12.5%) (Schauss et al. 2006). The main anthocyanins are cyanidin, delphinidin, malvidin, pelargonidin and peonidin and the other phenolics include catechin, ferulic acid, quercetin and resveratrol (Poulose et al. 2012).

Overall, the clinical evidence is weak (Heinrich et al. 2011). In an uncontrolled pilot study, consumption of açaí fruit pulp reduced levels of selected markers of metabolic disease risk in overweight adults, indicating that further studies are warranted (Udani et al. 2011). Antioxidant and lipid peroxidation levels in 12 volunteers in a randomised, placebo-controlled crossover experiment showed statistically significant positive changes both 1 hour and 2 hours after consumption. The same product was also tested for its effects in 14 volunteers with reduced range of motion (RoM) and produced a significant pain reduction and an improvement in measures of RoM and other activities of daily living (Jensen et al. 2011).