The Amazon covers 1.2 billion hectares on the north side of the South American continent, part of which is in Brazil and covers almost half of that vast country. In fact, the Amazon and its fertile land for various plants and animals that thrive in its exotic climate, that Amazon products are better than what we call organic: they are wild. As a result, things that grow in nature are strong in their own defense mechanisms to fight off insects and all kinds of fighters. Amazonian products such as Brazil nuts, Guarana and Acai berries are recognized for their complex composition and concentrated nutritional values.

Destruction of the rainforest!

Deforestation of the Amazon rainforest reached its highest level in the years 2004 and 2005. Satellite photos show that loggers burned and cleared nearly a record over 10,000 square miles of rainforest in 2004 alone.

One of the main reasons is the global demand for heart of palm, which is a garnish for salads. Poachers were known to illegally fell between 5,000 and 10,000 palm trees a week. This was just to get the 12 to 16 inch (30 to 40 cm) section found near the top of a 65 foot (20 meter) palm tree.

For this delicacy alone, a poacher would have cut down an average of 50 trees a day just to earn about $1 for each tree from which the heart of the palm was removed. Once the core is removed, the tree dies and rots.

The harvest of a palm tree that has grown for more than 100 years has enough of this delicacy to fill two 14-ounce cans of hearts of palm. This would retail in a supermarket for less than $5.00 per can. To feed salad bars and salad connoisseurs around the world, is it worth such palm and rainforest destruction? It’s particularly wasteful because heart of palm doesn’t have any particular nutritional value beyond its fiber.

This is not the case with the Acai berry, which has significant nutritional density and harvesting it is a completely different approach.

Harvesting the Acai in this way can save the jungle!

Due to the high interest and demand for the Acai berry, this has started to help the locals realize that cutting down these precious palm trees just for a few inches from the top core of the tree was no longer a solution, and found that there were better ones out there. Available options. Each palm tree produces a bountiful harvest of Acai fruit twice a year. Within a few years, the value of the palm fruit itself far exceeded the value of removing the top core of the palm just to use it as a salad garnish.

Therefore, a legitimate reason was found not to cut down those trees by harvesting the Acai berry in another way.

Workers now climb to the top of the 90-foot palm tree to collect what is known as the Black Pearl of the Amazon.

As these workers soon became aware of this type of reputable harvest every year or in some cases twice a year, it is a better way to secure their jobs and increase their income.

Harvesting the fruits of palms is better for the environment because the palm will continue to grow for years. This was the way to stop unscrupulous loggers destroying Acai palms for quick profit.

This is opening another window of opportunity for the indigenous people and showing them how to protect one of the best treasures they have, by saving the palm tree that contributes so much to people’s health.

Preparations after harvesting the Acai berry!

The Amazon River is long and wide and a ship can sail inland from the sea for more than 3,218 km (2,000 miles).

The river provides the best opportunity for barge navigation for transportation and quick preparations immediately after the fruit is harvested. The moment is crucial; if not cared for properly, it begins the oxidation process and quickly spoils the delicate fruit.

Without a way to keep the fruit refrigerated or to be processed quickly, it would go bad quickly like almost all foods in the tropics. In the last decade or so, a reliable and cost-effective transportation infrastructure including large refrigeration facilities has been established. Well-equipped barges can navigate the river deep into the jungle harvesting crops.

Barges equipped with this type of facilities where certain processing stages have been carried out and transported to cities near the Amazon River. One of the most effective ways is to freeze the fruit in large blocks and ship it to different destinations. Why frozen flash? This is the only and most effective way for the fruit to maintain all its benefits and nutritional values.

The power of Acai

As reported in the Journal of Agriculture and food chemistry, a study showed that extracts from Acai berries triggered a self-destruct response in more than 86 percent of leukemia cells tested.

This study was one of the first of its kind conducted by the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences to show what people can gain from using beverages, dietary supplements made from the berries. There are many reports of these kinds of different health benefits. Therefore, there is no better reason for distributors and companies to be eager to take advantage of the Acai name.

Not all Acai products are created equal

The label doesn’t say it all. It may say on the label that it includes Acai, but how much is in it? Also, was it preserved as it should have been? Therefore, not all Acai products shown on the labels are the same, nor do they contain the right amount to have the effect that they are intended to have. The way this berry is preserved and processed can have a dramatic effect on its overall quality.

Many product labels list that they include Acai, but most have only a fraction of the amount of Acai and antioxidant activity that it should have. Some companies don’t understand how important all the post-harvest processing actions are, or are simply trying to save money by cutting corners in the process.

Around the late 1990s, university labs became more advanced in accurately measuring the amounts of specific nutrients in Acai fruits and other foods. Only that preservation methods were realized and available, such as freeze-drying that would contain its nutritional quality.

Not many leading companies have done the research and follow strict rules and guidelines to preserve and transport this high-quality product without losing any of its nutritional value.

Processing and conservation of the Acai berry

The key is that the benefits of the Acai berry are delivered in the most effective and concentrated form. A process of freezing fresh harvested fruit to preserve the nutrients in the fruit that is done at a very low heat temperature; This process removes the moisture from the berry, leaving behind the pure Acai powder.

Freeze-dried Acai powder, gram for gram, has an ORAC of 1,027, which I discussed in the previous article. That makes it one of the highest of any type of fruit or vegetable.

A product with one of the best health benefits has been found and developed for anyone who wants to take advantage of it. Now, more than ever, people are stepping up to accept responsibility for their own health and the food they eat. Scientific evidence shows that the most powerful health benefits come from Mother Nature, and using natural foods as medicine is the most logical step.

Public health officials are urging consumers to eat multiple servings of fruits and vegetables every day to get all the important antioxidants. Unfortunately, most people have very little understanding of what antioxidants are and why they are important.

The other positive step is to change the harvesting process, save the palm trees and protect the Amazon rainforest. It’s not just to take, it’s also to give back.