Acai is a fruit that is as established as the great rainforests of Brazil. So why has such a great food with so many health and nutritional benefits been kept so quiet and largely unavailable until now? The main reason for açaí being such a new produce in the European market is largely due to the delicate composition of acai. Unlike bananas, oranges and other fruits that can remain good once harvested, the acai fruit begins to deteriorate once picked and its beneficial properties are lost quickly. For the native amazonian indians who have traditionally eaten the fruit at source, the problem of deterioration has not been an issue. However, since the consumption of acai

has remained a local occurence, a lot of each year's harvest has gone to waste. Increasing travel to the amazon by brazilians and foreign travellers has meant that local foods such as acai have been 'discovered' by non-natives and this has led to demand for such foods outside of the local community. At the same time, there has been a regional drive to develop sustainable farming practices that encourage the maintenance of the rainforests rather than their systematic destruction. The farming of natural forest foods - such as acai - provides sustainable income for the region's population. Yearly harvests mean that it now makes sense to protect the rain forests rather than destroy them for other reasons.