Acai Juice History
Acai juice has only recently entered western culture as a health food
supplement. However, the acai berry itself has been utilized for
centuries by the native people of the Amazon region. In fact, the acai
plant has an honored place in many South American cultures where they
utilize it in every facet of their lives.
The acai berry comes from a tall palm tree that grows in the tropical
regions of South America. It was first used by natives who realized the
tree’s deep purple berries could be used to cure several ailments. Its
first employment was by the uwishin, or traditional shamanic healers,
who creating healing remedies from rainforest plants. Some of the cures
made from the acai included remedies for heart problems, infection, and
inflammation.
Over time, natives in the Amazon found they could use the acai berry
as an energy food. However, eating the berries raw was somewhat
difficult. The biggest problem was that the acai berry has a pit that
takes up some 90% of its mass. So, to utilize the fruit, the native
would press out the pulp and make a unique variety of red wine. This
eventually transformed into acai juice, which was not fermented
To harvest the acai berry, native men would shimmy up 25 meter tall palm
trees and cut down branches from the acai palm containing clusters of
berries. Each cluster could hold up to 900 berries or up to 10 kilograms
of fruit. Additionally, each tree could produce two crops of berries
each year. Plus, the palm is hearty and grows widely throughout the
Amazon region in what in parts of what is now Belize, Brazil, and Peru.
So, the natives were rarely short on acai fruit to make their healing
juice.
The importance of the acai berry and its juice in native culture can
be seen in the mythology that has developed around the fruit. According
to legend, the acai tree was first spotted by a native woman, Iaca, who
was mourning the sacrifice of her daughter for the sake of her tribe.
When the baby was born, the tribe was suffering from a food shortage and
could not afford to feed any additional mouths. Iaca saw the spirit of
her daughter by the tree, and died near the palm soon afterward. When
members of Iaca’s village found her, she was smiling and looking up at
the acai berries, which they realized could stop the tribe from
starving. Since that time, the acai berry has been a celebrated fruit.
While acai juice has been a part of native culture for centuries, it
was only brought into use in the rest of the world during the middle of
the twentieth century. In the 1950s, researchers discovered that acai
juice had many health benefits. However, only in the last two decades
has this amazing super food been widely embraced. Now, millions of
people know what the natives in Brazil have known for centuries, which
the acai berry and its juice can truly improve a person’s quality of
life.
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