Volume 179, 15 July 2015, Pages 137–151
Review
Amazon acai: Chemistry and biological activities: A review
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Highlights
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- Two Euterpe species can produce the acai fruit.
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- Euterpe oleraceae and E. precatoria are endemic from different Amazonian regions.
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- Exploration and consumption have been changing the region and production species.
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- Chemical composition and pharmacological properties are different at the two plants.
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- This review is focused on the last 5 years of the scientific literature.
Abstract
Acai
(acai or assai) is one of the Amazon’s most popular functional foods
and widely used in the world. There are many benefits to its alleged use
in the growing market for nutraceuticals. The acai extracts have a
range of polyphenolic components with antioxidant properties, some of
those present in greater quantity are orientin, isoorientin and vanillic
acid, as well as anthocyanins cyanidin-3-glucoside and
cyanidin-3-rutinoside. The presence of these substances is linked mainly
to the antioxidant, anti- inflammatory, anti-proliferative and
cardioprotective activities. Importantly, there are two main species of
the Euterpe genus which produce acai. There are several
differences between them but they are still quite unknown, from
literature to producers and consumers. In this review are highlighted
the chemical composition, botanical aspects, pharmacological, marketing
and nutrition of these species based on studies published in the last
five years in order to unify the current knowledge and dissimilarities
between them.
Keywords
- Amazon;
- Euterpe genus;
- Polyphenols;
- Pharmacological activities
- Corresponding author. Tel.:
+55 92 9903 6771.
Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
