ACAI BERRY is truly a wonderful plant. Acai fruit grows on an Amazon Palm Tree and have been prized for hundreds of years by Brazilian natives for their ability to provide a sense of strength, energy, and a high nutritional content.

The Acai Berry with twice the antioxidants of blueberries and high levels of omega fatty acids, is considered to have the best nutritional value of any fruit, and has helped Monarch Health Sciences come up with an authentic solution to mans nutritional needs.

Acai (pronounced AH-sci-EE) with the symmetry of a grape and the size of a giant blueberry has a taste that some describe as a mix between berries and chocolate. Deep purple in color, açaí is extremely rich in antioxidants (anthocyanins). These strong antioxidants go to battle against free-radical molecules that invade the body, helping to combat premature aging and even help prevent serious diseases like heart disease.

This little palmberry, growing wild in the Amazon rainforest of Brazil, packs an amazing health punch. In fact, natives of Brazil have been eating acaí fruit for centuries, typically grinding it into a pulp to eat for breakfast or as an energizing snack. More recently,açaí has begun to make a splash among surfers and other active-minded folks in the know.

Acai also contains an almost perfect complex of amino acids and vital trace minerals, elements that are essential to proper muscle contraction and regeneration. Plus, acai has a synergy of omega 6 and 9 fatty acids: the healthy, monounsaturated type of fat that can help reduce bad cholesterol and increase good cholesterol. Like most berries, acai berries are also a healthy source of natural fiber, good for the cardiovascular system and digestive tract health.

So, when you think acai berry, think energy!

Whats in the Acai Berry?

Acai Berries also have a remarkable concentration of antioxidants to help combat premature aging.

The fatty acids & omegas. 60% Oleic (omega 9) - a monounsaturated essential fatty acid which helps to lower LDL (harmful cholesterol), while maintaining HDL ( beneficial cholesterol). 12% Linoleic (omega 6) - a polyunsaturated essential fatty acid which has also been found to lower LDL, while maintaining HDL.

Acai fruit also contains many valuable Phytosterols. Sterols are compounds of plant cell membranes providing numerous benefits to the Human body, namely the reduction of blood plasma cholesterol.

In the Acai Berry,is a dense source of a particular class of flavonoids called anthocyanins. Acai Berry’s ORAC value (a measure of its antioxidant properties), is higher than any other edible berry on the planet. Acai Berry is also an excellent source of dietary fiber!

Small, bright red, berry-sized fruit with a vitamin C content up to 65 times that of an orange. A single fruit contains the minimum daily recommended vitamin C requirements. Fruit resembles the common cherry.

Uses

Eaten fresh or as flavoring for drinks. Commonly used in parts of South America to flavor ice creams, drinks, and cocktails. Acerola’s are used in many commercial vitamins and nutritional products, mainly for their vitamin C content.

Plant Cultivation

A bushy shrub up to 20ft. Acerola’s often form small multi-trunked trees. Plants can stand temperatures down to 28F and will take long periods of drought. They prefer to grow in warm to hot climates, with temperatures reaching 85-90F. Trees grow well in slightly acidic soil. Trees often require little or no care. Trees without adequate pollination will often set seedless fruit. Flowers usually appear after periods of rainfall or irrigation. Flowering may occur any time during the year (depending on local rainfall and climate patterns), and can last year-round. After flower set, fruit soon follows and will ripen in just 3-4 weeks. Fruits lose their flavor and nutritional content very rapidly upon harvest. Ripe acerola’s should be picked and eaten within a few hours to preserve taste. As a result, the tree is not cultivated for commercial production.
Propagation: Often by seeds which unfortunately can have low germination rates.

Origin & Distribution

Native range from South Texas through the Caribbean, Central America, and Brazil. Commercial production mainly supplies beverage makers, and for additives in nutritional products. Acerola’s are not usually sold as a fresh fruit. Additionally, the acerola is a common dooryard tree throughout much of Central America.

The Black Chokeberry, Aronia melanocarpa ‘black’, is an open, upright, spreading, somewhat rounded but leggy, deciduous shrub which typically grows 3-6’ tall. It displays clusters of 5-petaled, white flowers in spring which are followed in early autumn by blackish purple, blueberry-sized fruits which usually do not persist into winter. Lustrous, dark green foliage turns an attractive purplish red in autumn.

Although technically edible, the fruits are extremely tart and bitter, and are not recommended for eating off the bush. Attractive fall color and fruit give this shrub good ornamental value for a shrub border. Its ability to withstand wet conditions makes it suitable for growing along ponds, streams or water gardens. Easily grown in average, medium wet, well-drained soil in full sun to part shade. Tolerant of wide range of soils. Best fruit production occurs in full sun. Spreads by root suckers to form colonies.

About the Chokeberry - Red:

The Red Chockecherry, Aronia arbutifolia ‘Brilliantissima’, cultivar is a deciduous shrub which typically grows slowly to 6-8′ tall and is perhaps most noted for its attractive glossy red berries and red fall foliage color. Clusters of white to pinkish flowers appear in spring. Flowers are followed by abundant glossy red fruits (3/8″ diameter) which appear in dense clusters along the branches. Fruits ripen in late summer and persist throughout fall and well into winter. The glossy, dark green turns bright red in autumn.

‘Brilliantissima’ primarily differs from the species by being more compact, producing more lustrous foliage with superior red fall color and producing larger, glossier and more abundant fruit. Common name is in reference to the tart and bitter berries. which are so astringent they cause choking in those who try to eat them. The ability to withstand wet conditions makes it suitable for growing on the margins of ponds or streams. Also effective in naturalized areas where its suckering, colonial growth habit does not need to be restrained. Easily grown in average, medium wet, well-drained soils in full sun to part shade. It has a wide range of soil tolerance including boggy soils. Best fruit production usually occurs in full sun.

These fragile peach-like fruits, with their perfumed aroma and ultra-sweet flavor, contain impressive amounts of beta-carotene. They are also a fair source of potassium, and supply a good amount of fiber. Fresh apricots are fragile and do not ship well so. But dried apricots, concentrated sources of the same nutrients, are widely available. Apricots, both fresh and dried, contain natural salicylate (an aspirinlike compound), which may cause an allergic response in sensitive people.

Varieties

There are approximately a dozen varieties of apricots: All are similar in taste, but differ somewhat in size and color (which ranges from yellow to deep orange). Blenheim, Tilton, Patterson, and Castlebrite are among the better-known varieties.

Availability

Today, California supplies more than 90% of the domestic crop. Only about 16% of these apricots are sold fresh during a relatively short growing season of about 10 weeks. About half the apricot crop is canned.

Domestic apricots are available from mid-May through mid-August. Imports from Chile and New Zealand appear in markets in December and January.

The banana, which has been a staple for thousands of years, is a nearly ideal food, and Americans have made it their favorite fruit. The banana has a great deal to offer nutritionally. Because bananas contain less water than most other fruits, their carbohydrate content, by weight, is higher, which is one of the reasons that bananas are a favorite of endurance athletes. Bananas can be easily digested by virtually everyone, including infants and the elderly. This fruit also supplies a substantial amount of potassium along with significant amounts of vitamin B6. Bananas also have a small amount of folate (folic acid) and vitamin C.

Varieties

The familiar yellow banana sold in the U.S. is usually the Cavendish variety. In specialty stores, urban supermarkets, and in Latin neighborhoods, you can sometimes find more exotic varieties that offer different tastes and textures. These include manzano (also called apple or finger bananas), which are finger-size and turn black when ripe; Saba and Brazilian, which are straight, medium-size, and somewhat tart; and red bananas, which are very sweet and turn purplish red as they ripen.

Plantains (platanos), which look like large, green bananas, are often seen in Latin markets. These starchy fruits are usually cooked and eaten as a vegetable.

Availability

Bananas are not a commercial crop in the United States; they are cultivated in tropical regions, most prolifically in Central and South America, and shipped to northern ports on a grand scale. Yellow bananas are in good supply all year; exotic varieties are more seasonal.

Bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus) is a short, shrubby perennial plant that inhabits the woods and forest meadows of Europe, western Asia, and the Rocky Mountains of North America. As with many other plants that belong to the same plant family (Vaccinium), bilberry bears edible fruits similar to those found on the American blueberry bush. Cranberries and huckleberry belong to this plant family too.
The bilberry’s blue-black berry, which is creamy white inside, has been valued as a food since prehistoric times. Commonly referred to as “European blueberry,” it is famed as a filling for pies, and for use in cobblers, jams, and other recipes.

In addition, for at least one thousand years, European herbalists have also recommended the plant’s fruits and leaves for medicinal purposes, treating a variety of complaints with a strong, boiled tea made from the plant. Urinary tract infections, kidney stones, and diarrhea are just a few of the ailments for which bilberry has been used.

Bilberry’s modern reputation as a healing plant was sparked during World War II, when British Royal Air Force (RAF) pilots noticed that their night vision was sharper than usual whenever they ate bilberry preserves before starting out on their evening bombing raids. Subsequent research revealed that bilberries are powerful antioxidants, capable of protecting cells in the eye and other parts of the body against damage from unstable oxygen molecules called free radicals.

Today, bilberry ranks among the most popular of supplements for maintaining healthy vision and for treating various vision disorders, including poor night vision, cataracts, and macular degeneration.

Health Benefits

Researchers intrigued by the improved night vision of the bilberry-eating RAF pilots eventually identified compounds in the berry called anthocyanosides. These substances appear to fortify blood vessel walls, improving blood flow to the tiny blood vessels that keep eyes healthy, as well as to larger blood vessels that help maintain good circulation throughout the body. Anthocyanosides also appear to strengthen collagen, the protein that provides support to healthy connective tissue.

The other important healing substance in bilberry fruits–astringent compounds called tannins–help treat such ailments as diarrhea, sore throat, and inflammations in the mouth. Germany health authorities approve of bilberry fruit for mild cases of diarrhea and mouth and throat inflammation. A cooled tea made from the dried berries can be either drunk or gargled for these purposes.

Specifically, bilberry may help to:

Improve night vision as well as prevent and treat macular degeneration and cataracts. Even though the evidence showing that bilberry works for various vision-related problems is still quite weak, the herb’s popularity persists. The plant appears to assist the retina, the light-sensitive part of the eye, in adjusting quickly to both dark and light. This is probably a result of the plant’s anthocyanosides, which have antioxidant properties and appear to boost oxygen and blood delivery to the eye.
Herbalists have also long considered bilberry useful for treating night blindness and daytime vision impaired by glare. But while some studies indicate at least some short-term effectiveness with bilberry, others find no benefit at all over the use of a placebo (dummy drug or sugar pill).

The herb is also quite popular for preventing macular degeneration, a condition in which the light-sensitive area in the center of the retina breaks down.

It may also help slow the progression of cataracts, a clouding in the eye’s lens that is common in older people. In one study of 50 patients with age-related cataracts, it was found that taking bilberry extract along with vitamin E supplements stopped the progression of cataracts in nearly all of the participants. It remains unclear, however, whether the vitamin or the bilberry, or even the combination of the two, was responsible for this beneficial effect.

The herb has also shown promise in lessening the effects of diabetic retinopathy, a degenerative eye disease that affects people with diabetes.

Improve varicose veins and other circulatory problems. The active ingredients in bilberry appear to enhance blood flow to vessels that circulate blood throughout the body. For this reason, the herb may benefit people suffering from poor circulation in their extremities, painful varicose veins, and hemorrhoids–all discomforts that can be expected to improve with enhanced circulation.
A 1988, single-blind, placebo-controlled study of this herb included 60 patients with poor circulation (or venous insufficiency). The results showed that bilberry extract decreased the participants’ discomfort when taken over a period of 30 days. The study had some design flaws, however, and more research on the subject is clearly needed.

Blueberries are good news all the way. These delicious berries contain more disease-fighting, age-proofing antioxidants than practically any other fruit or vegetable, even powerhouses such as kale, broccoli, and oranges. In fact, blueberries were at the top of the list of 40 fruits and vegetables tested for their antioxidant potential. The group of substances that put the “blue” in blueberry–anthocyanins–are probably responsible for much of the fruit’s antioxidant power. Blueberries (like other berries such as blackberries) also contain ellagic acid, which has been shown to have anti-cancer properties. Blueberries also boast a high fiber content; and much of that fiber is pectin, a soluble fiber that helps lower cholesterol levels.

Varieties

Cultivated blueberries: This is the variety you see most often in the supermarket. The marble-size berries are round and plump, with a deep blue color and whitish “bloom” (a dusty-looking surface).

Wild blueberries: These are far rarer. You may find them sold fresh locally (they grow in cool climates such as Maine and eastern Canada), but more often they are available canned or frozen. They are much smaller than the cultivated variety–there are 1,600 wild blueberries to the pound, compared to 500 cultivated blueberries–and have a chewy, dense texture and deep flavor. Because you get more blueberries to the pound, ounce for ounce wild blueberries provide more of the skin (which is where the blueberry’s color compounds live). One side effect of this is that you’ll get blue lips and teeth from eating a pie made with wild blueberries, but you will also be getting a much higher does of anthocyanins.

Dried blueberries: These are available in specialty food markets and can be used much as you would raisins. Like all dried fruit, they provide a concentration of the whole fruit’s nutrients–in this case, they are a particularly rich source of anthocyanins.

Availability

Domestically grown cultivated blueberries are on the market from May through September or October. At other times of year, you can sometimes find imported blueberries in stores.

The wild blueberry season is short, and the berries are not shipped much beyond their growing area. If you don’t live in wild-blueberry country, look for canned or frozen berries.

Camu-camu is a low-growing shrub found throughout the Amazon rainforest, mainly in swampy or flooded areas. It grows to a height of about 2-3 m and has large, feathery leaves. It produces round, light orange-colored fruits about the size of lemons, which contain a significant amount of vitamin C. Its high vitamin C content has created a demand for camu-camu fruit in the natural products market. Some groups are now beginning to study cultivation methods for this important new rainforest resource, which is still harvested wild throughout the Amazon region. Ethnobotanist Mark Plotkin notes in his book, Tales of a Shaman’s Apprentice, that “a forest stand of camu-camu is worth twice the amount to be gained from cutting down the forest and replacing it with cattle,” and he believes that camu-camu cultivation holds real economic promise for local economies. Usually, camu-camu fruit is wild-harvested in the rainforest in canoes because the fruits mature at high water or flooding seasons in the Amazon.

Tribal and Herbal Medicine Uses

Camu-camu has never been documented as a traditional herbal remedy for any condition in the Amazon region. In fact, it was not widely eaten as a fruit by the indigenous people, due to its sour, acidic taste. In recent years, the fruits have become popular in Iquitos, Peru, where they are made into drinks and ice creams.

Plant Chemicals

Camu-camu fruit has the highest recorded amount of natural vitamin C known on the planet. Oranges provide 500-4,000 ppm vitamin C, or ascorbic acid; acerola has tested in the range of 16,000 to 172,000 ppm. Camu-camu provides up to 500,000 ppm, or about 2 grams of vitamin C per 100 grams of fruit. In comparison to oranges, camu-camu provides 30 times more vitamin C, 10 times more iron, 3 times more niacin, twice as much riboflavin, and 50% more phosphorus. Camu-camu is also a significant source of potassium, providing 711 mg per kg of fruit. It also has a full complement of minerals and amino acids that can aid in the absorption of vitamin C. Alpha-pinene and d-limonene (compounds known as terpenes) predominate as the volatile compounds in this fruit.

As with any vitamin C-rich fruit, however, the time between harvesting and consumption is crucial; the fruit may lose up to a quarter of its vitamin C content in less than a month (even if frozen).4 Even with this loss, camu-camu still has a dramatic edge over its next challenger, acerola, for vitamin C content.

In addition to the chemicals mentioned above, camu-camu contains beta-carotene, calcium, leucine, protein, serine, thiamin, and valine.

Biological Activities and Clinical Research

There has been no research conducted or published on any medicinal or therapeutic properties of camu-camu. However, there are a few herbal supplement companies in the United States marketing camu-camu extracts in powders and pills and alluding to claims of its benefits-from curing viral infections and colds/flu and cold sores and autoimmune disorders to even weight loss. The fact is there just isn’t any research to back up these claims. There is some research suggesting high dosages of vitamin C offer a benefit for various illnesses and conditions, yet even some of those studies are controversial. And, remember, this research is on vitamin C, not on camu-camu specifically.

Make no mistake - camu-camu is a great source of natural vitamin C. In addition, it comes with many other naturally occurring vitamins, minerals, and amino acids that may well help with the absorption and efficient uptake of vitamin C. This is thought to be superior to just taking an ascorbic acid tablet alone. Don’t believe some of the more far-reaching and far-fetched marketing claims that are in the marketplace today, however. The only studied and verified health benefit today regarding camu-camu is based upon its vitamin C content-and not other “mysterious” chemicals that surround it.

Most Americans think of cranberries as little more than a condiment for their Thanksgiving turkey, but these tart little berries deserve more attention. The health focus on cranberries of late has been on their apparent effect in preventing urinary tract infections. Researchers are not sure of the precise mechanism, but it may be that the tannins in the berries (which contribute to their mouth-puckering tartness) help fight certain bacteria. Cranberries, like a number of other berries, also contain ellagic acid, a cancer-fighting phytochemical.

Cranberries are too tart to eat raw or in any unsweetened form, but they can be combined with sweeter fruits, such as apples or pears, so that very little additional sugar is needed.

Dried cranberries (sometimes called craisins), which are usually sweetened, can be substituted for raisins or other dried fruits in compotes, cookies, and muffins.

Varieties

The wild cranberries favored by early settlers have been largely replaced by cultivated varieties that are larger, glossier, and more flavorful. Four major varieties of cranberries are now grown commercially in the U.S. They vary somewhat in size and color, but all taste virtually the same.

Availability

Only about 10% of the commercial crop is sold fresh; the rest is used either in juice or canned cranberry sauce. Fresh cranberries are available all year round, but are more plentiful beginning in September and through December. Frozen cranberries have become increasingly available.

On the outside, a kiwi fruit looks like a fuzzy brown egg–appropriate, since it is named after a fuzzy flightless brown bird. Once considered an exotic specialty item, kiwi fruit has become immensely popular during the past two decades, and deservedly so. When you cut (or bite) through its thin brown skin, which is covered with a downy fuzz, you reach velvety bright green flesh sprinkled with a ring of tiny, edible black seeds. The taste of kiwi fruit, which varies from sweet to tart, has been compared with a combination of other fruits, such as strawberries, nectarines, and melons. Kiwi fruit blends well with other fruits and makes a striking garnish, but it is also highly satisfying (and nutritious) eaten on its own. Ounce for ounce, it is higher in vitamin C than most fruits and is a decent source of potassium.

Availability

The kiwi fruit was a much-appreciated treat in ancient China, and was introduced into New Zealand in 1906, where it was called “Chinese gooseberry” (although it isn’t related to the green gooseberry). Years later, as foreign demand for the fruit increased, New Zealanders renamed it for their national treasure, the kiwi bird. Today, kiwi fruit is also a commercial crop in California. New Zealand and California have opposite growing seasons; consequently, a year-round supply is available. (The fruit keeps well for up to 10 months in cold storage, allowing it to be brought to market for several months after it is harvested.) Both New Zealand and California produce one principal variety, the Hayward.