Acerola cherry fruit (Barbados Cherry) is one of the natural sources of vitamin C.
Not just a good source of natural vitamin C, it’s one of the fruits with a high amount of vitamin C and other essential vitamins.
Even with the Rosehip that has a similar amount of vitamin C content, Acerola has many more vitamins, minerals, and trace elements.
Also, the Acerola fruit has natural antioxidant, anticarcinogenic, and anti-inflammatory properties. It has soothing, vitalizing and rejuvenating effects on the body.
Vitamins in Acerola Cherry
- Vitamin C
Acerola berry, which is the fruity part of the plant has an average vitamin C content of about 17 mg per 1 gram of fruit.
With this, eating a couple of acerola fruits daily will help to provide the body with the required amount of vitamin C.
When too much of it is consumed, the body will also do away with the excess since it can not store water-soluble vitamin C in the body.
Consuming organic vitamin C without going through industrial processes has so many health benefits and get absorbed well and quickly into your body.
It’s free from chemicals, additives, and preservatives and can help to protect the body from free radicals, cell damage while also supporting cell regeneration.
Personally, I prefer taking raw fruits rather than juice produced from factories since it makes the skin glow, prevent early aging, smoothen the vascular walls of the blood vessels and improves blood circulation.
Furthermore, vitamin C is important to ensure good iron absorption and it is involved in collagen production.
It also regulates the hormonal balance and makes carcinogenic compounds in the food to become harmless.
Vitamin C has so many health benefits, therefore, consuming acerola fruit every day is a good choice to benefit from these benefits mentioned.
Vitamin Bs in Acerola
Acerola fruits also contain B Vitamins. Both Vitamin B3, B5, Riboflavin and beta carotene are all found in the berry.
Riboflavin is an essential vitamin that helps the metabolic enzymes during food metabolism while Vitamin B3 also plays a supporting role in metabolism.
Riboflavin, which is also referred to as Vitamin B2 helps majorly in the metabolism of carbs, protein, and fat and in revitalizing the skin.
It helps in the regeneration of skin cells, DNA, nerve cells and muscle fibers as well.
Vitamin B3, which is also in the acerola fruit can help the body in digestion processes, building up hormones and enhancing the easy flow of blood.
Vitamin B5, also called Pantothenic, is very essential in the formation of coenzyme A. It is an important element that helps carbohydrates and fats metabolism, as well as developing and hormones.
Another essential vitamin is the Beta carotene which also helps in cell growth and building up the immune system, and also the killer cells, lymphocytes, and cytokine.
Minerals found in Acerola fruit
Minerals are also contained in the vitamin-rich Acerola fruit. These minerals are important for the entire metabolic processes in the body and without them, we may not function very well.
Minerals found in acerola are iron, fluorine, potassium, calcium, sodium, and magnesium. These are natural supplements that can help growth and development.
- Iron
Even though the proportion of iron supplement is small in the nutrition content of this berry, it is similar to what we get from the iron-rich food like a banana.
Banana only has about 0.06 mg of iron per 100 gram than Acerola fruit of the same gram, therefore, it can still be said that Acerola is rich in iron.
The iron supplement is important in oxygen transfer within the body, strengthening the immune system and helping in the formation of red blood cells.
- Potassium
Acerola also has a medium concentration of potassium. About 40 mg potassium is in 100 grams of acerola fruit. It’s not a high concentration here but with other minerals, acerola alone can be consumed to help to regulate cell growth and blood pressure.
Potassium is good for the heart, the release of hormones and insulin so that the sugar metabolism works properly and sugar level in your body is well under control.
- Calcium
In the nutrition chart of acerola, calcium is one of the major nutrients as it’s about 12%. As you may know, our bones and teeth are made of calcium deposits. Therefore, the regular intake of calcium, not only in children but also in adult is very important.
Consuming enough calcium-rich foods is the only way to protect against osteoporosis, especially children that are still at the growth stage.
Calcium is also particularly important for blood clotting and the transmission of nerve impulses.
- Sodium
Although sodium is just about 3% of the nutrients in this fruit, a low amount of sodium is needed in the body from time to time.
Sodium is also important for transmitting biochemical impulses. It serves as the electrolyte that transfers electric charges when dissolved in the blood cells.
- Magnesium
Magnesium is about 12% of the total nutrients in Acerola fruit. It is an important element for blood clotting and thus against heart attacks and thrombosis.
It is also important for physical relaxation, which means that athletes or people who engage in strenuous activities need more of it.
Magnesium helps against nervousness and stress and is still involved in more than 300 enzyme reactions. A deficiency can result in the regular weakness of the body and fatigue.
Trace Elements that are found in Acerola fruit
Acerola is not only rich in Vitamin C and the B vitamins but also, other trace elements like zinc and fluorine are as well found to be present in Acerola berry.
Zinc is important for the growth of the cells, enzymic activities, genetic makeup and the control of the immune system.
Fluorine, on the other hand, is said to help to protect our teeth from decay. Fluorine is also one of the major nutrients in most toothpaste.
Other ingredients in Acerola Cherry
In the Acerola fruit, there are also anthocyanins, flavonoids, and polyphenols. These are also important to your body for the following tasks.
- Anthocyanins
This ingredient is mainly responsible for the absorption of ultraviolet (UV) rays and thus counteracts the premature aging of your skin.
In addition to this, anthocyanins also have a positive effect on your vision and anti-inflammatory effect in your body. Blood Vessels should also be protected with this active ingredient.
- Flavonoids
This element has an antioxidant effect. It contributes to your well-being by getting rid of free radicals and protecting body cells. In combination with vitamin C and other minerals, the effect can be intensified.
- Polyphenols
Polyphenols are particularly important for the blood vessels as they can prevent limescale deposits.
This means that the blood can flow freely and can, therefore, be prevented from heart attacks and strokes.
Furthermore, they should be proactive against neurodegenerative diseases and also have an excellent effect on caries disease.
Conclusion
All these important ingredients are contained in the Acerola fruit and it shows that consuming raw acerola fruits or some extracts like the juice and powder can help to improve our health.
This was already known many hundred years ago because the fruit was used for various diseases then.