While living in Central America, I ate a lot of fresh acerola cherry and particularly loved making sorbet from it. Now that I’m back in the States, I take acerola cherry powder when I need an immune boost. An unfortunate problem with acerola cherry though is that its nutrients break down quickly. If you want to get the health benefits of acerola cherry, it’s important that you choose the right product.
Here’s what you need to know about the amazing acerola cherry, its health benefits, and the best acerola cherry supplements – including whether acerola extracts or fruit powders are better.
What Is Acerola Cherry?
Acerola cherry is a fruit native to the Caribbean and South and Central America. It has the most vitamin C of any fruit in the world (only camu camu comes close) and is also rich in phytonutrients. (1) Even though it resembles commercial cherries, acerola is actually in a completely different family than cherries. Interestingly, acerola cherry is in the same family as caapi, one of the plants used to make ayahuasca and also known for many health benefits.
The first time I tried acerola cherry, I almost spit it out because I was expecting it to taste like cherries. It’s very acidic in flavor. When put in smoothies or with sweeter fruits though, the tangy flavor of acerola is actually really nice.
Other Names for Acerola Cherry
- Malpighia emarginata(Latin)
- Barbados cherry
- Wild crepe myrtle
- West Indian cherry
- Cerise des Antilles
- Puerto Rican Cherry
Health Benefits of Acerola Cherry
While acerola is best known for having high amounts of vitamin C, it also contains many other nutrients. These nutrients are why acerola cherry has so many health benefits. A Google Scholar search shows thousands of results for the plant.
Vitamin C
The pulp of ripe acerola fruit has vitamin C content as high as 4,500mg per 100g. By comparison, raspberries have 30mg, oranges have 50mg, and kiwi have 90mg of vitamin C per 100g. At 3,000mg per 100g, camu camu is one of the only fruits to come close to acerola’s vitamin C content.
Because vitamin C is integral for collage formation, maintaining bone and muscle tissue, and neurotransmitter biosynthesis, consuming acerola cherry is linked to a wide range of health benefits. (2, 3)
Phytonutrients
In addition to vitamin C, acerola cherry contains large amounts of phytonutrients including:
- Carotenoids
- Flavonoids
- Polyphenols
- Phenolics
- Anthocyanins
These phytonutrients are linked to health benefits of acerola including better skin and preventing hypertension and cancer. Studies also show that acerola cherry could have anti-inflammatory benefits, which in turn could help numerous inflammation-related diseases. (4, 5)
Choosing an Acerola Supplement
Not all acerola supplements are equal. Some brands actually only have a small amount of acerola in their product. Others are made or packaged in a way which degrades the nutrients in the acerola. If you want a good acerola supplement, you’ll need to look at these factors.
Type of Supplement
Vitamin C is very unstable. It quickly breaks down in the presence of oxygen, light and heat. Because of this, it’s really important that you choose the type of acerola supplement which best preserves vitamin C.
As a general rule, it is best to get acerola extract or freeze-dried acerola powder. Studies show that vitamin C and antioxidants are well preserved with these methods.
By contrast, you’ll want to avoid liquid acerola cherry products, such as liquid tinctures or liquid gel capsules. The nutrients break down too quickly in this form. Also avoid dehydrated acerola because the process uses heat which kills vitamin C and other nutrients. And, unless you are making your own from fresh fruits, avoid acerola juice products. The juice may taste good but will be lacking nutrients. (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
Acerola Powdered Fruit vs. Extracts
Some acerola supplements contain whole dried fruit (usually freeze-dried). Because the entire fruit is used, you get all of the nutrients found in the fruit. The downside of whole acerola powders is that the nutrient content can vary. For example, depending on how ripe the acerola cherries were when the powder was made, the product might have more or less nutrients.
By contrast, acerola extracts are made in a way which standardizes the amount of nutrients. In this case, the nutrient is vitamin C. The downside is that the extraction process can destroy other nutrients, such as the many phytochemicals in acerola.
Which one is better? It depends. If your main concern is vitamin C, then you are probably better off with an acerola extract. If you want the full range of nutrients in acerola cherry, then you are probably better off choosing a whole-fruit powder. (12, 13, 14)
Packaging Method
Light is vitamin C’s enemy. It is really important that you choose an acerola supplement which has solid or at least dark packaging so light can’t get through. Avoid any acerola product which has clear packaging.
*Heat also breaks down vitamin C. Make sure you store your acerola cherry supplement in a cool place after buying it. (15)
Acerola vs. Synthetic Vitamin C Content
A lot of acerola supplements, especially acerola extracts, also contain some synthetic vitamin C. The synthetic vitamin C is often called sodium ascorbate or ascorbic acid.
Unfortunately, not all brands list how much of their vitamin C is from acerola versus synthetic. A cheap product might only contain a small amount of acerola cherry and the rest synthetic vitamin C. This matters because the body doesn’t absorb synthetic vitamin C well. You also won’t be getting all the other nutrients which are found in acerola cherry.
Further, some people get upset stomach from synthetic vitamin C. If this is a concern, make sure you choose an acerola supplement which lists how much synthetic vs. acerola vitamin C it contains.
Image credits:
“Acerola” by eltpics
“Acerola” by Marcos X. Dias