Who is Acerola?

Acerola Cherry is the Chinese name for Acerola Cherry. It is native to the Caribbean region of the West Indies in tropical America, so it is also called West Indian cherry. It is suitable for growing in tropical and subtropical areas with abundant rainfall, sufficient sunshine and suitable temperature. It is famous for being rich in vitamin C and is recognized worldwide as the "King of Natural VC" and "Fruit of Life".

Did you know? A small acerola cherry can provide about 200 to 300 mg of vitamin C and is rich in phytonutrients such as flavonoids. It is precisely because of the presence of flavonoids that the natural vitamin C in acerola can be better absorbed and utilized. The recommended daily intake of vitamin C for adults in my country is 100 mg, which means that only 1/2 to 1/3 of acerola cherries a day can meet a person’s basic needs throughout the day. This is really amazing! Not only that, acerola cherries also contain vitamins A, B1, B2, E, iron, calcium, phosphorus, niacin, protein and other nutrients!

Morphological characteristics

Acerola is an evergreen shrub belonging to the family Aceraceae. The tree is 2 ~ 3.5m high, with no obvious trunk, soft branches, opposite branches, gray-white bark, and obviously protruding lenticels.

Leaves

The two leaves of acerola cherry are opposite and oval in shape; the leaf tip is blunt and slightly concave; the leaf stem is rounded; the leaf margin is wavy and rolled inward; Pinnate veins: The leaf length and width are 4.8-6.8cm and 2.1-2.7cm respectively; the leaves are thin and the surface is dark green and shiny.

Flowers

There are 2 to 5 flowers on the side of the leaves, which unfold naturally into umbels; the palm-shaped corolla is 1.5 to 2cm in diameter, with 5 petals and is light red.

Fruit

The fruit is yellow-white before maturity, and finally changes from golden red to dark red. It is nearly spherical in shape, has 3 lobes, is about 2.5-3cm in diameter, and weighs 7-8g. , thin skin, soft and juicy when red, with moderate sour taste.

Seeds

There are three seeds in each fruit.

Historical origin

Legend has it that when Columbus landed in the West Indies in 1492, he discovered this magical fruit. At that time people called it "Barbados Cherry". But it didn't attract much attention from the world at that time.

At the beginning of the 20th century, acerola cherries were introduced from tropical America to Hawaii in the United States. Later, they began to spread widely in tropical and subtropical regions of the world through India and Southeast Asian countries.

During World War II, acerola made great contributions to the treatment of wounds of Allied wounded soldiers, saving tens of thousands of wounded soldiers from ulcers and saving the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers!

After the end of World War II, developed countries such as the United States quickly began planting and researching acerola cherries. It was found that acerola cherries are rich in natural vitamin C, which attracted the attention of the world. However, due to the poor controllability of the preparation technology and the geographical limitations of acerola cultivation at that time, especially the successful development and industrial production of synthetic VC. People have gradually ignored the value of acerola cherries, and their enthusiasm for their cultivation and research and development has gradually faded.

It was not until the 1980s that people discovered that there was a huge difference between synthetic VC and natural VC. Natural VC is increasingly valued and favored by people, which reminds people of acerola cherries again! As a result, the magical acerola cherry was finally reborn, opening a new page in the history of world nutrition.

Outstanding nutritional value

A large number of studies at home and abroad have confirmed that acerola cherries are rich in vitamin C and are currently the richest fruit known to contain vitamin C in the world. The VC content in 100 grams of fruit reaches 2445 mg, which is much higher than the 40 mg of lemon, 68 mg of citrus and 100 mg of kiwi. However, guava, which has always been considered to have extremely high vitamin C content, only has 180 mg, making it a veritable "vitamin." King of C”.

At the same time, acerola cherries also contain vitamins A, B1, B2, E, P, niacin, anti-aging factors (SOD), calcium, iron, zinc, potassium and protein and other nutrients. They have extremely high nutritional value and have " "Fruit of Life". Among them, vitamin P can prevent vitamin C from being oxidized and destroyed, and enhance the absorption and utilization of VC. Its unique anti-aging factor (SOD) - superoxide dismutase, can effectively resist the invasion of foreign harmful substances and has the effect of delaying aging.

In terms of rich nutrition and high content, acerola cherries are definitely the best in the world among all fruits.

Comparison table of nutrients between acerola cherries and common fruits

Unit: mg/100g

Nutrient

Fruit Vitamin C Vitamin A Vitamin B1 Vitamin B2 Niacin

Acerola 2445 1832 28 79 340

Banana 8 280 0.3 0.06 -

Carambola 40 980 0.04 0.03 -

Mango 34 2100 0.04 0.05 -

Tangerine 68 1080