Uses
Eaten fresh or as flavoring for drinks. Commonly
used in parts of South America to flavor ice creams, drinks, and
cocktails. Acerola's are used in many commercial vitamins and
nutritional products, mainly for their vitamin C content.
Plant Cultivation
A bushy shrub up to 20ft. Acerola's often form
small multi-trunked trees. Plants can stand temperatures down to 28F
and will take long periods of drought. They prefer to grow in warm
to hot climates, with temperatures reaching 85-90F.
Trees grow well
in slightly acidic soil. Trees often require little or no care.
Trees without adequate pollination will often set seedless fruit.
Flowers usually appear after periods of rainfall or irrigation.
Flowering may occur any time during the year (depending on local
rainfall and climate patterns), and can last year-round.
After
flower set, fruit soon follows and will ripen in just 3-4 weeks.
Fruits lose their flavor and nutritional content very rapidly upon
harvest. Ripe acerola's should be picked and eaten within a few
hours to preserve taste. As a result, the tree is not cultivated for
commercial production.
Propagation: Often by seeds which unfortunately can have low
germination rates.
Origin & Distribution
Native range from South Texas through the
Caribbean, Central America, and Brazil. Commercial production mainly
supplies beverage makers, and for additives in nutritional products.
Acerola's are not usually sold as a fresh fruit. Additionally, the
acerola is a common dooryard tree throughout much of Central
America.
MonaVie
Ingredients: Acai berry,
pomegranate,
white grape,
nashi pear,
acerola, pear,
aronia,
purple grape,
cranberry,
passion fruit,
banana, apricot,
prune, kiwi,
blueberry,
bilberry,
camu camu,
wolfberry,
lychee,
Cealdrin &
Glucosamine
