Acerola

A vitamin C bomb

Acerola contains roughly 30 times the vitamin C of an orange by weight — among the highest concentrations in any fruit. This is the entire commercial basis for the fruit: most acerola harvests go to vitamin C supplement manufacturers, who extract the vitamin and sell it as powdered concentrate.

Per 100 g, acerola provides about 1,700 mg of vitamin C — roughly 20 times the recommended daily intake.

Not actually a cherry

Despite the alternative name “Barbados cherry”, acerola is unrelated to true cherries (which are Prunus, in the rose family). Acerolas are Malpighia, in the Malpighiaceae family. The cherry resemblance is purely visual — small, red, three-segmented drupe.

A short shelf life

Fresh acerolas are extremely fragile. The fruit:

• Bruises within hours of picking.
• Loses much of its vitamin C if stored at room temperature.
• Doesn’t ship well.

This is why fresh acerolas are rarely seen outside the growing regions; commerce is in juice (frozen, or pasteurized concentrate), powder, and supplement form.

In Brazil and the Caribbean

Brazil is the world’s largest acerola producer. Brazilian suco de acerola (acerola juice) is a common breakfast drink, often blended with orange or guava juice. In Puerto Rico, the Caribbean cherry is similarly traditional, made into syrups, popsicles, and jams.

Hawaii has a small commercial acerola industry, mostly for the vitamin C supplement market.