Acerola cherry, also known as Barbados cherry, is a berry that grows in tropical and sub-tropical environments. This berry is not a true cherry, although it has been used for centuries as a treatment for digestive issues, liver conditions, and infectious diseases. Acerola cherry contains more vitamin C than practically any other fruit or berry, and it also contains beneficial substances like flavonoids and carotenoids. Due to its high content of these purported antioxidant substances along with other beneficial compounds, acerola cherry may be useful for bacterial and viral infections, skin conditions, and various other ailments.
Vitamin C and most of the other beneficial substances in acerola cherry extract are highly soluble in water, which makes them impressively bioavailable and fast-acting.
Acerola cherries are the only source of the unique medley of antioxidants and other beneficial compounds found in acerola cherry extract.
Acerola cherry extract is not recognised as an essential nutrient, so there is no nutrient reference value (NRV) for this substance.
Both fresh acerola cherries and acerola cherry juice are hard to find in most areas, making it difficult to get enough of the beneficial substances found in this berry in your daily diet.
Only two or three other substances have been discovered that contain more vitamin C than acerola cherries, making these berries incredibly useful for obtaining your daily vitamin C intake. At the same time, acerola cherries also contain flavonoids, carotenoids, polysaccharides, and other beneficial substances that you can’t obtain by taking vitamin C alone. While more research needs to be done to determine the exact benefits of acerola cherries on their own, there’s a lot we can extrapolate regarding the potential benefits of acerola cherries based on what we know about the beneficial substances they contain.
Since acerola cherry is such a great source of vitamin C and this compound has been identified as a potential immune-booster, taking acerola cherry fruit extract may be useful when you want to protect yourself from infectious disease. Since acerola cherries have also been identified as potentially useful for improving your skin health and promoting general antioxidant activity throughout your body, you may want to take acerola cherry extract even when infectious disease isn’t a pressing concern due to its potential antioxidant benefits.
Since the active substances in acerola cherry are water-soluble, you may start enjoying the benefits of this natural fruit extract within a day or even less.
Your body should fully absorb the beneficial substances in acerola cherry fruit extract within approximately 24 hours.
In most cases, the beneficial substances present in acerola cherry will only stay in your body for around 1-3 days after ingestion.
Research indicates that the vitamin C, flavonoids, carotenoids, and other beneficial substances present in acerola cherries may have profound antioxidant benefits on the body.
There are no known cases of acerola cherry extract overdose, and the beneficial substances this extract contains are regarded as safe.
After absorbing into your tissues, the beneficial substances in acerola cherry extract rapidly flush out of your body.
There’s no reason you shouldn’t take acerola cherry during a diet as this natural, vegan substance does not conflict with any dietary restrictions.
While efforts have been made to synthesise vitamin C, flavonoids, and other constituent parts of acerola cherries, acerola cherry extract itself has not been synthesised.
There is no information on the potential absorption rates of synthetic acerola cherry extract.
At present, natural acerola cherry extract is the only available form of this substance, and natural forms of substances are generally safer and more effective.
Acerola cherries are generally consumed orally in fresh, juice, dried or extract form.
In 2020, a study was conducted to determine which ripening stage in acerola cherries provides the most benefits. The researchers concluded that while immature acerola cherries contain more vitamin C, mature acerola cherries contain more flavonoids. Also in 2020, Chinese scientists found that the polysaccharides in acerola cherry may prevent fatty liver disease by directly reducing the lipid content in your liver.