The Acai Berry ORAC Value
ORAC was originally devised by Dr. Guohua Cao, a chemist and physician who was working at the National Institute of Health (NIH). Dr. Cao's findings revealed that if we consume plenty of high-ORAC foods, we could actually slow the process of oxidation and free radical damage that contribute to age-related conditions.(1)
The ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) unit, ORAC value, or ORAC score is a method of measuring all of the total antioxidant capacities in biological samples in vitro.(2) The samples can include various foods and nutritional supplements. Fruits and vegetables appear to rank high on the list and the acai berry registers an astounding 5,500 ORAC score. As for the freeze dried acai berry pulp, the value goes up to a whopping 50,000 units! To put everything in perspective, take a closer look at the table below to see how acai berry compared to other foods on the ORAC scale:
| Food | ORAC Value |
| Freeze Dried Acai Pulp | 50,000 |
| Acai Berries | 5,500 |
| Pomegranates | 3,100 |
| Blueberries | 2,400 |
| Strawberries | 1,520 |
| Spinach | 1,270 |
| Plums | 940 |
| Oranges | 750 |
| Cherries | 680 |
| Carrots | 230 |
| Bananas | 221 |
| Apples | 218 |
Note that the higher the ORAC value, the more potent the antioxidant properties of the substance. This article does not aim to explain the exact science behind ORAC but it is quite evident that if you are after foods with stronger antioxidant properties, look for the ones with high ORAC value. The normal daily consumption for the average person is about 1,670 ORAC units. However, recent studies show that people are only consuming an average of 1,000 ORAC units per day which means we are consuming less ORAC than we should. If we take acai berry supplements on a daily basis, we get sufficient amounts of antioxidants that enable our body to fight premature aging as well as degenerative diseases.
NOTE: The actual unit of measurement for the ORAC scale is micromoles of Trolox equivalents per 100 grams (µTE/100g) of sample. The antioxidant value of acai berry, freeze-dried described in ORAC units is 102,700 µ mol TE/100g. This figure is one of the highest ever on record.
Source References
(1) What is an ORAC Reading? - BeyondHealthNews.com
(2) Total Antioxidant Capacity - The Journal of Nutrition
