Vitamin C is important in the body’s ability to fight diseases, it helps to prevent conditions such as scurvy and also performs other functions in the body.

Dietary sources of vitamin C include both fruits and vegetables.

Some fruits are packed with so much vitamin C and they are capable of providing more than the required daily amount of vitamin C needed by the body.

Camu camu and acerola are two cherry-like tropical fruits known for being exceptionally high in their vitamin C content when compared to most other fruits.

The amount of vitamin C in these fruits is amazing, and because of their unique quality, these two fruits are currently utilized in the production of vitamin c supplements among other important uses.

In this post, we highlight the differences between these two fruits and compare the nutrients of these two fruits

What is acerola?

Acerola (malpighia emarginata) is also known as west indies cherry OR Barbados cherry.

The fruits of Acerola look like cherries when ripe. 

The shrub is a tropical plant and the fruits are usually in pairs or groups of three.

Acerola fruits are green when immature but become red on maturation with a diameter of about 4 cm.

Since they contain a single seed, their fruits are not berries but drupes.

They are sweet-tasting fruits. You may also find them being used to make juices, pulps, and they can also be found in powdered supplement form.

The fruits are rich in vitamins particularly vitamin C, and they are used to make supplements of vitamin C. Acerola is also rich in antioxidants.

However, the fruit decomposes quickly and loses some of its nutrients days after harvesting them, therefore they are most often found in the powdered supplement form.

What is camu camu?

The camu camu (Myrciaria dubia) plant is a shrub that produces fruits that are cherry-like. Most of the trees occur in the wild and can be found along the river banks.

The plant mainly grows in the Amazon rainforest. They can reach the height of 5m and are often submerged in water.

The fruits of camu camu are brown or purple when fully mature and have a pink pulp.

With more than one seed within the pulp, their fruits can be classified as berries.

The fruits are very acidic and have an unpleasant sour taste.

Therefore, due to their unpleasant taste, the fresh fruits are rarely consumed fresh but are used in the production of powdered supplements, sweetened juices, or puree where they are mixed with sweeter flavors to give them a better taste

The fruits are highly nutritious and are known for their high vitamin C content that is far greater than most other fruits of the same amount.

Camu camu is one of the richest sources of vitamin c.

In addition to their vitamin c content, camu camu also contains anthocyanin in its skin which has antioxidant properties

Because of the high amount of nutrients, there has to be caution when taking it. discuss with your doctor or healthcare professional about this fruit before adding it to your diet

Differences between acerola and camu camu

Here’s how you can be able to tell these two fruits apart

Location: Camu camu grows near the amazon river in Peru. Most of their trees occur in the wild.

Acerola is native to Mexico, central and south America. Its trees can also be found in tropical regions around the world.

Fruit types: The camu camu fruit is a berry as it has more than one seed surrounded by its pulp. On the other hand, acerola is a drupe having only a single fruit in its substance.

Color: Camu camu can be brown or purple when ts fully mature and it has a pink pulp, acerola is red when it reaches full maturity.

Taste: Some varieties of acerola have a pleasant taste and are eaten fresh.

Camu camu has a strong acidic flavor, and the fruit is rarely eaten fresh. However, they may be combined with other sweeter flavors and are used mostly n powdered form

Nutritional comparison

Per 100 g of fresh fruit

	Camu camu	Acerola
Vitamin c	2145 mg	1680 mg
carbohydrate	5.9 g	8 g
Fiber	1.1 g	1.1 g
Protein	0.4 g	0.4 g
Fat	0.2 g	0.3 g

Conclusion

Camu camu and acerola are two tropical fruits packed with vitamin c which could be beneficial for bodily functions

They have about 30 times more vitamin c than oranges

The camu camu has a slightly higher vitamin c content that acerola.

However, because of the acidic taste of its fruit, camu camu is most often available in the powered supplement form or mixed with other flavors.

Acerola could also be available as a powdered form, juices, fruit puree. It has a sweet taste and it is sometimes eaten fresh