General Informations
Malpighia emarginata is a tropical fruit-bearing shrub or small tree in the family Malpighiaceae.
Common names include acerola cherry, Barbados cherry, West Indian cherry. Acerola is native to South America, southern Mexico, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Brazil, and Central America, but is now also being grown as far north as Texas and in subtropical areas of Asia, such as India.
It is known for being extremely rich in vitamin C, almost as much as camu camu, although M. emarginata also contains vitamins A, B1, B2, and B3, as well as carotenoids and bioflavonoids, which provide important nutritive value and have antioxidant uses.
