Definition

A juice product obtained from the fruit of the acai palm tree (Euterpe oleracea) with anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and potential chemopreventive activities. Besides high amounts of vitamins, minerals and fatty acids, acai berry is rich in phytonutrients such as anthocyanins and flavones which are potent scavengers of reactive oxygen species. The fruit also contains high amounts of the flavone velutin which exhibits potent anti-inflammatory properties. Velutin is able to inhibit the degradation of the inhibitor of nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-kB), thereby blocking the activation of NF-kB, as well as inhibiting phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinase p38 and JNK. Inhibition of these processes results in suppression of the production of proinflammatory cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor alpha and interleukin 6.