Açai is truly a remarkable fruit. Growing atop elegant palm trees in the lushest parts of the Amazon rainforest, the açai fruit looks a lot like a blueberry. But, should you go to the Amazon one day, make sure you don’t pop one in your mouth and bite on it - you may break a tooth! Because, far from being a fleshy berry, the açai fruit is a hard, wooden seed covered by a very thin skin.
While açai’s seed isn’t edible (it’s used as fertilizer, fuel and to make beaded jewelry), açai’s thin skin is a nutritional marvel, combining the best of berries and nuts: At the micronutrient level it is packed with powerful antioxidants called anthocyanins. And at the macronutrient level it boasts a virtually perfect composition: plenty of heart-healthy omega fatty acids, a good amount of dietary fiber, some protein and practically no sugars! Pretty amazing, isn’t it?
What’s more, the fruit’s pulp is consumed in the form of a thick purée (see ‘the food’) that has a delightfully creamy texture and combines notes of dark chocolate with that of wild berries. So açai doesn’t only offer unparalleled nutrition but is also delicious to the palate: truly the best of both worlds!