Acerola

Acerola is a small reddish fruit comes from a small to medium sized tree that can grow up to 40ft. The hard "nut" inside the fruit contains two seeds.

Also called Barbados Cherry, the scientific name of this plant is Malpighia glabra and it represents a tropical small tree or a fruit-bearing shrub belonging to the family Malpighiaceae, originated in northern South America and West Indies. This small tree can grow up to 3 m in height, developing a dense crown. The leaves are simple ovate-lanceolate and evergreen, measuring from 5 to 10 cm in length. The flowers have 1-1.5 cm diameter each and five red or pink petals.

The fruit has a bright red colour and a pleasant sweet flavour. It grows to about 1 cm in diameter. It is rich in nutrients and has a high level of vitamin C. It may be combined with other juices such as orange and pineapple, or added in small amounts to apple juice to increase the amount of vitamin C.

Name Variations[]

Barbados cherry
Puerto Rican cherry
West Indian cherry
West Indies cherry