Acai Berry History

Though relatively new in the Americas, the acai berry has a long history in the Amazon and the Amazonian rain forest, a span of hundreds, maybe even thousands, of years. The berry is based upon a legend of the Amazon girl "Iaca," the daughter of the Amazonian Indian tribe's chief, Itaki.

Legend has it that Itaki and his tribe outgrew their food supply, so Itaki ordered all newborn children to be sacrificed when food became very scarce until a suitable and sustainable supply had been attained. This included the death of Itaki's own grandchild, Iaca's baby, whom she bore when this order was in place.

Iaca mourned the death of her baby for days. One night, when the moon was full, she heard a child crying outside. She went out to see what was the matter, it was Iaca's daughter that was crying next to a palm tree, a large palm tree covered in dark purple fruit.

The next morning, the tribe found her dead body holding the tree, her eyes staring toward the top of the palm tree. Itaki lifted the order of the death of every new born, and had the tribe harvest the fruit, that renewed their energy and satisfied the hunger. Itaki named the tree/fruit "acai" (Iaca backwards) after his daughter.

The natives of Brazil known the fruit as "ica-cai", which means "fruit that cries". Native healers have long used the acai berry for curing common ailments.