Acerola Cherry

Also known asBarbados Cherry · West Indian Cherry · Malpighia emarginata

Name: Acerola Cherry, also known as Barbados Cherry or West Indian Cherry (Malpighia emarginata).

Description

The acerola cherry grows on a small evergreen shrub in the Malpighiaceae family, native to the West Indies and a range stretching from southern Texas down through northern South America. Clusters of pink or rosy blossoms appear through the summer and give way to bright red, cherry-sized fruits shaped like a drupe.

The fruit's defining trait is an extraordinarily high vitamin C content, among the richest of any edible fruit, which by the mid-20th century made acerola an important raw material for commercial vitamin C production as well as a popular ingredient in preserves, juices, and dietary supplements.

Main nutrition value

Per 100g, raw acerola cherry:

Acerola cherries are extraordinary for vitamin C — about 1,680mg per 100g, well over fifteen times an adult's daily requirement in a single serving — making it one of the most concentrated natural sources of the vitamin known. It also contributes modest amounts of potassium, magnesium, and fiber.

How best to be consumed

Acerola cherries are highly perishable and their vitamin C content degrades quickly after picking, so the fresh fruit is best eaten right away. Because fresh acerola is rarely available outside the tropics, most people outside growing regions encounter it as juice, freeze-dried powder, or a vitamin C ingredient in supplements and fortified foods rather than as whole fruit.

Overconsumption could cause…

Acerola is quite tart, and eaten in large amounts its acidity can irritate the stomach lining or aggravate acid reflux in sensitive people. Because the fruit is so concentrated in vitamin C, leaning heavily on acerola juice or powder on top of separate vitamin C supplements can push intake well past the body's needs, which in excess may cause digestive upset such as diarrhea or stomach cramps. These effects are tied to unusually large or concentrated intakes rather than an ordinary serving.

GroupsTropical FruitsLow fatLow sodiumRich in vitamin CFresh

Related foodsStar Fruit / CarambolaPomeloRose ApplePapayaLoquatLongan

U.S. Department of Agriculture, FoodData Central — Acerola, (west indian cherry), raw (FDC ID 171686), 100g portion: https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/171686/nutrients Encyclopaedia Britannica — Barbados cherry: https://www.britannica.com/plant/Barbados-cherry