*** Welcome to piglix ***

Euterpe oleracea

Açaí palm
Açaizeiro no palácio.JPG
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Arecales
Family: Arecaceae
Genus: Euterpe
Species: E. oleracea
Binomial name
Euterpe oleracea
Mart.
Synonyms
  • Euterpe brasiliana Oken
  • Catis martiana O.F.Cook
  • Euterpe badiocarpa Barb.Rodr.
  • Euterpe beardii L.H.Bailey
  • Euterpe cuatrecasana Dugand

The açaí palm (Portuguese: [aˌsaˈi] (About this sound listen), from Tupi-Guarani asaí;Euterpe oleracea) is a species of palm tree in the genus Euterpe cultivated for its fruit and hearts of palm. Its name comes from the Portuguese adaptation of the Tupian word ïwaca'i, '[fruit that] cries or expels water'. Global demand for the fruit has expanded rapidly in recent years, and açaí is now cultivated for that purpose primarily. Euterpe edulis (juçara) is a closely related species which is now the primary source of hearts of palm.

Euterpe oleracea is mostly native to Brazil and Trinidad and northern South America, mainly in swamps and floodplains. Açaí palms are tall, slender palms growing to more than 25 m (82 ft) tall, with pinnate leaves up to 3 m (9.8 ft) long.

The fruit, commonly known as açaí berry, is a small, round, black-purple drupe about 25 mm (1 in) in circumference, similar in appearance to a grape, but smaller and with less pulp and produced in branched panicles of 500 to 900 fruits. The exocarp of the ripe fruits is a deep purple color, or green, depending on the kind of açaí and its maturity. The mesocarp is pulpy and thin, with a consistent thickness of 1 mm (0.04 in) or less. It surrounds the voluminous and hard endocarp, which contains a single large seed about 7–10 mm (0.3–0.4 in) in diameter. The seed makes up about 60-80% of the fruit. The palm bears fruit year round but the berry cannot be harvested during the rainy season. The two harvests are normally between January and June and August and December, with the latter being more important.


...
Wikipedia

...