Acai Berry Powder Premium – Organic Freeze Dried

Acai Berry Powder (Euterpe Oleracea) is sourced from the Amazon Rainforest and carefully freeze-dried to help maintain its natural characteristics. This organic powder is known for its rich purple color, naturally occurring phytonutrients, and unique flavor profile. Acai berries also contain beneficial plant compounds, essential fatty acids, amino acids, and trace minerals. The freeze-drying process preserves quality and makes this ingredient a popular choice for smoothies, functional foods, and nutraceutical formulations.

Premium Organic Freeze-Dried Acai Berry Powder

Z Natural Foods takes pride in bringing our customers a wide range of foods and herbs from around the globe in their most versatile forms, and our pure organic freeze-dried Acai powder is no exception.

While the market is flooded with a wide variety of Acai products (powder, frozen, capsules, and extracts), the versatility of a pure freeze-dried Acai powder stands firm in an impressive lineup of competitors.

Our organic freeze-dried Acai powder has a wide range of uses and endless potential for creativity. Indeed, modern extraction techniques provide a highly concentrated and effective product, taking a food from ordinary to extraordinary. However, sometimes the beauty, subtlety, and straightforward whole-food version is the most appropriate approach for long-term nourishment.

With a deep, rich, tart berry flavor and earthy chocolate undertones, freeze-dried acai powder exhibits excellent potential for a wide range of daily applications.

Our mission is to provide customers with great-tasting, highly functional foods with endless applications in their most versatile form, supporting a variety of lifestyles. We proudly introduce the newest member of our diverse line of functional foods: Z Natural Foods Premium Organic Freeze-Dried Acai Powder.

Interesting and unique facts about Acai Berry

1. Acai berries are harvested by hand from trees 60-100 feet tall, making for a dangerous and challenging process.
2. 50% of acai berries’ macronutrient profile comes from fat, and 74% of their fat content comes from unsaturated fatty acids.
3. Acai is a drupe like a peach or cherry, and 80% of its surface area is seed.
4. Fresh acai has a very short shelf life (24 hours).
5. Acai trees grow in multi-stem clumps 50-100 feet tall. Each clump has up to 10 trunks from one root.
6. Acai palm trees also provide us with hearts of palm, a tasty delicacy.
7. While most berries taste sweet when they are ripe, fresh acai berries have a bitter flavor profile with chocolate undertones.
8. Acai consistently ranks within the top 10 most nourishing berries worldwide.
9. Acai is one of the few fruits that, in its raw state, does not contain any sugar.
10. Acai palm trees are not considered “cold hardy” as their lowest temperature tolerance is 30°F. They require partial shade and grow best in acidic, moist soil.
11. Acai palms are used in the construction of fishing gear and roofing.

In many cultures worldwide, berries are considered a staple in the human diet. However, while some of these berries are regarded as everyday foods, they are often used as local medicines or tonic foods, depending on the culture. Acai berries are essential staples in the South American diet and are used in various local remedies and applications.

Acai berries are dark purple berries native to South America with an earthy, bitter, mildly sweet, nutty flavor and a chocolate blackberry undertone. If you close your eyes when eating acai berries, you can taste notes of chocolate. The name comes from a native tribe (the Tupi), meaning weeping fruit.

Acai has sparked considerable interest in North America as a highly nutritious and healing food, often used in smoothies, juices, and other healthy snacks. Acai has been a part of the diet of indigenous people in the Amazon for centuries (contributing up to 40% of their diet), traditionally eaten hot and salted, accompanied by cassava flour. Acai berries are approximately 90% seed, so it is not uncommon to find tiny bits in a freeze-dried powder.

Did you know there are five kinds of Acai berries, with the pulp being the primary differentiating factor?

1. Purple/black
2. Acu Acai
3. Sword Acai
4. Ox Blood Acai
5. Chumbino Acai

A human study looking at the Pharmacokinetics of anthocyanins and antioxidant effects after consuming anthocyanin-rich acai juice and pulp demonstrated an increased plasma antioxidant activity of up to 2-3 fold, specifically for acai juice and pulp.

The Fatty Acid Profile of Acai Berries

Acai berries are an outstanding source of essential fatty acids and are said to have a unique fatty acid profile for a fruit. Around 50% of acai berries’ macronutrient profile comes from fat, and 74% of their fat content comes from unsaturated fatty acids. From there, the fatty acid profile is approximately 5 grams of omega-6 and 18 grams of omega-9 fatty acids.

1. Polyunsaturated fatty acids are around 11%
2. Monounsaturated fatty acids are around 60%
3. Saturated fatty acids are around 29%
4. Around 54% of the monounsaturated fats are oleic acid, the same substance found in olive oil.

There are two primary types of fats: saturated and unsaturated. Structurally speaking, saturated fats have no double bonds, whereas unsaturated fats have one or more of these bonds. A fat with one double bond is considered monounsaturated, whereas if it has more than one, it is polyunsaturated.

Polyunsaturated fats are broken down into two classes: Omega-3 and six fatty acids. A key point to note is that while certain foods may be higher in a specific type of fat, all foods contain a combination of saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fats. Acai berries are an excellent source of monounsaturated fatty acids, the most abundant one being oleic acid. Acai berries contain around 33 grams of fat per 100 grams. Here is the approximate breakdown of fatty acids in acai berries.

1. 60% oleic acid 
2. 22% palmitic acid 
3. 12% linoleic acid 
4. 2% Stearic acid
5. 2% Palmitoleic acid  
6. 2.5% Arachidic acid

The vast majority of Acai’s fatty acid profile comes from the omega-6 fatty acid Oleic acid, which is the most abundant fatty acid in human adipose tissue. Oleic acid helps omega-3 fatty acids penetrate the cell membrane, which makes them more supple. Ultimately, supple membranes help hormones, insulin, and neurotransmitter receptors function more efficiently in the body.

The power of polyphenols

Acai berries are an outstanding source of polyphenolic compounds and consistently ranked in the top ten best Orac scores for antioxidant activity. Just to give you some perspective, Acai berries are well known for containing two major anthocyanins, cyanidin-3-glucoside and cyanidin-3-rutinoside. However, the contributions of the anthocyanins to the overall antioxidant capacities of the fruit were estimated to be only approximately 10%. Furthermore, for comparison, 100 grams of acai pulp has an ORAC score of approximately 15,500, compared to the same amount of blueberries, which has an ORAC score of around 4,700.

Many health experts believe a diet focused on high amounts of flavonoids is critical to supporting a healthy aging process because these compounds are known as nature’s biological response modifiers. There are over 8,000 different types of flavonoids found in nature. Based on the research, it does not seem to matter if you acquire them from food or supplements; what counts is the total daily amount you consume. These experts recommend consuming at least 2,000 milligrams of flavonoids daily, sourced from a variety of foods and supplements.

Polyphenols are a term used to describe a general category of compounds found in a broad spectrum of fruits, vegetables, and tea that work as “reducing agents” along with other compounds known as antioxidants to support a healthy inflammation response and the body’s ability to protect and repair damaged tissue caused by oxidative stress. While over 8,000 polyphenols have been identified, some of the most common are flavonoids, flavonols, and anthocyanins. Acai berries are a vibrant source of these specific compounds.

1. Anthocyanins are a part of the flavonoid family of polyphenolic compounds. They represent the pigments that exhibit the bright red, purple, and blue colors found in fruits and vegetables. The six most common are Cyanidins, Delphinidins, Malvidins, Peonidins, Petunidins, and Pelargonidins.
2. Flavonols are polyphenols belonging to the flavonoid family with a ketone group, studied for their wide range of biological activities(antioxidant, antimicrobial, hepatoprotective, modulating inflammation, and vasodilation). They primarily accumulate in the outer tissues(skin and leaves) of fruits and vegetables, are the building blocks of proanthocyanins(compounds that are attributed to the colors of fruits and vegetables), and are most widespread in the human diet.

A randomized controlled trial discussing how flavonoid-rich foods improve microvascular reactivity and inflammatory status in men at risk for cardiovascular disease showed the following.

1. The HF F&V diet increased endothelium-dependent microvascular reactivity
2. Reduced C-reactive protein and vascular cell adhesion molecule
3. HF F&Vs increased plasma NO in the group as a whole.

Therefore, the following was concluded, “These data support recommendations to increase F&V intake to ≥ 6 portions daily, with additional benefit from F&Vs that are rich in flavonoids, particularly in men with an increased risk of CVD.”

Finally, as mentioned at the beginning of this description, consuming Acai daily is the traditional use of Acai. However, a freeze-dried Acai powder exemplifies how the advancement of technology can transform these powerful medicinal foods into products with incredible potential for limitless applications, offering a more convenient way to use this powerful medicinal food on the go.

Ultimately, preserving the incredibly nourishing qualities found in Acai berries and maximizing their versatility may be best obtained through freeze-drying. Furthermore, unlike many other food preservation practices that involve the addition of unhealthy preservatives, freeze-drying is all about what is taken away. The shelf life of powdered food or products is directly linked to their moisture content. A freeze-dried product typically has a moisture content of 3% or less. So, freeze drying allows for greater versatility of the end product due to more accessible storage options and blending capability, and supports the natural flavor profile of the fresh food version.

There are three primary advantages to using a freeze-drying method.

1. Freeze drying creates the closest end product when presenting a whole food complex.
2. Freeze-drying a food preserves its smell, taste, and texture closest to that of the fresh version.
3. Freeze-dried foods allow you to customize your needs when creating a product. For example, freeze-dried berries can be left whole, chopped, or milled into a powder, all of which retain the nutritional value of the fresh version.

Summary of Important Information

Z Natural Foods handpicks specific ingredients for our customers based on three concepts to provide the best possible quality product, supporting optimal well-being.

1. Versatility
2. History of safe and effective usage
3. Strong evidence of positive research outcomes in human

Important summary points

1. Staple food across South America; used in folk remedies.
2. Dark-purple berries with earthy, mildly sweet, nutty, chocolate-blackberry taste.
3. The name stems from the Tupi phrase for “weeping fruit.”
4. Amazonian peoples have eaten acai for centuries—up to 40 % of their diet—served hot, salted, with cassava flour.
5. Fruit is 90 % seed, so tiny seed bits often appear in freeze-dried powder.
6. About half its calories are fat; 74 % of that fat is unsaturated.
7. Roughly 5 g omega-6 and 18 g omega-9 per 100 g pulp.
8. Rich in monounsaturated oleic acid, the body’s most common fat.
9. Total fat: ~33 g per 100 g.
10. Oleic acid lets omega-3s enter cell membranes, keeping them flexible and boosting hormone, insulin, and neurotransmitter signaling.
11. Packed with polyphenols; ranks top-10 on ORAC antioxidant tests.
12. Key anthocyanins—cyanidin-3-glucoside and cyanidin-3-rutinoside—supply ~10 % of its antioxidant power.
13. ORAC score: ~15,500 per 100 g pulp vs. ~4,700 for blueberries.