Acai Berry Antioxidants
By admin on October 29th, 2009
Acai berry has antioxidant potency comparable to many fruits and vegetables available in the market today, scoring only slightly lower than mangoes, strawberries, and grapes. A freeze dried Acai pulp contains 3.19 mg per gram of anthocyanins, powerful antioxidants that decreases oxidative stress which play an important role in many human diseases such as stroke, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and dementia.
The powdered form of Acai berry also contains flavonoid-like compounds like deoxyhexose, homoorientin, isovitexin, orientin, proanthocyanidins (12.89 mg per gram), scoparin, and taxifolin. Flavonoids are otherwise known as Vitamin P and citrin, and are known mainly for their antioxidant properties. Flavonoids have also been shown to express anti-allergic, anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory activity and have been attributed to be effective in the prevention of cancers and cardiovascular diseases.
Acai berry also contains low levels of resveratrol (1.1 micro grams per gram); antibiotics produced by plants which have been shown in experiments to significantly lower blood sugar levels and give cardiovascular benefits.
A study of Acai berry juice compared to other commercially available fruit juices showed that the antioxidant properties of Acai juice were higher than that of orange and apple juices, and commercial tea, and roughly equivalent to black cherry and cranberry juice.
More sites that examine acai berry: