Newly Discovered: The ‘Miracle Berry’ from the Amazon Jungle

The world’s largest rainforest, the Amazon, shares its borders with eight countries. The Amazon River basin contains one fifth of the world’s fresh water supply and the area is teeming with wildlife of all descriptions. One third of all animal and plant species on Earth may be found in the Amazon.

This is also the home of the famous acai berry. The people of the Amazon River basin region have been using the plants of the rainforest for medicinal purposes for thousands of years - and nearly 2,000 of the plants which grow in this region are known for their medicinal properties; the acai berry is believed to be one of the most powerful of these.

Despite its use in the treatment of ailments for thousands of years, the acai berry remained virtually unknown to the western world before around 1990. But at last, we too are able to tap into the amazing health benefits that the acai berry possesses.

Naturally rich in antioxidants, the acai berry contains ten times as many if these compounds as do grapes and twice as many as do blueberries. They also contain fibre, protein and minerals.

The acai berry also contains high levels of anthocyanins; the compounds which give red wines some of their health benefits. The acai berry contains a larger amount of anthocyanins than does wine and is also free of the negative effects of alcohol.

There are more benefits to the acai berry. This incredible tropical super-fruit is thought to be one of the most potent foods in the war against ageing. The antioxidants and anthocyanins contained in the acai berry give this fruit its anti-aging benefits.

Acai berries have been used in making wine with a higher nutritional value to fight the disease schistosomosis (which is transmitted by snails) and in manufacturing an antibiotic to combat staph infections - this is a berry which has a wealth of nutritional benefits and a lot of different applications.

The acai berry is a little, round, black-purple drupe about 1 inch in diameter. There is a similarity between this and grapes in look and feel. Whilst the immense popularity of this fruit lies in the fact that it provides incredible health benefits the flavour is also simply superb. Perhaps the easiest way to enjoy the benefits of the acai berry is by drinking it as a juice or in smoothies.