Acai fruit

Description

The fruit (Acai), a small, round, black-purple drupe about 1 inch (*5 mm) in circumference, similar in appearance but smaller than a grape and with less pulp, is produced in branched panicles of **0 to **0 fruits. The exocarp of the ripe fruits is a deep purple color, or green, depending on the kind of açaí and its maturity. The mesocarp is pulpy and thin, with a consistent thickness of 1 mm or less. It surrounds the voluminous and hard endocarp, which contains a single large seed about 0.*5–0.*0 inches (7–*0 mm) in diameter. The seed makes up about *0% of the fruit (Schauss, ***6c). Two crops of fruit are produced each year. The ripe fruits are harvested as food.