It is with Oprah that the real hype around acai began, untill then acai history was very localised to the region of the Amazon where it originates.

The history of acai is deep rooted in the traditions of the Amazon people and the modern countries that occupy that territory. acai was not introduced to western countries until the 90’s, even though it can trace it’s roots back to the Amazon from thousands of years ago.

The tribes of the Amazon Rain Forest first used the berry to help various aliments due to its tremendous health properties. In fact, but to the locals it is just one of the many fruits of the Amazon that they used, it is estimated that the Amazonian people use two thirds of the  three thousand known rainforest fruits for medicinal purposes.

They have been familiar with the acai’s power building the the immune system, fighting infection, protecting the heart, and controlling prostate enlargement (nature’s viagra)

The acaí berry grows on a palm that has a long thin trunk up to 25m high with a group of branches at the top from which hangs ribbon-like leaves. As with many other fruits from similar trees the berry hangs from the branches of the tree in the form of clusters, normally the acai berry would be picked by hand, usually by someone willing to climb the tree and start cutting fruitful branches.

In recent times with the golden Oprah endorsement the acai has become so popular it is mass produced and quickly shipped away to packaging factories, as the juices are only good for 24 hrs, so any product made from acai must be made in that time, or the acai must be preserved by then.