Acerola is a wild evergreen shrub producing bright red fruit, native to southern Mexico, Central America, and northern South America and grown throughout tropical and subtropical zones. Acerola juice is a popular drink in Brazil, where its properties are traditionally considered cooling and astringent.
The fruit is one of the richest natural sources of ascorbic acid known, containing roughly 50 to 100 times the vitamin C of an orange or lemon by weight. It also carries carotenoids, bioflavonoids, two anthocyanin flavonoids, and quercetin, which is why acerola is often described as a superfruit on the strength of its antioxidant content rather than vitamin C alone.
