Brazil declares açaí its national fruit to combat biopiracy of amazon resources

Brazil has officially designated açaí, the purple superfruit native to the Amazon rainforest, as its national fruit in a symbolic move to protect against biopiracy – the unauthorized commercial exploitation of indigenous species and traditional knowledge. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva recently signed the law recognizing both the açaí palm tree (Euterpe oleracea) and its nutrient-rich berries as part of Brazil’s protected biodiversity heritage.

The legislation comes amid growing international demand for açaí, which has gained global recognition as an antioxidant-packed “superfood” commonly found in smoothie bowls and health products. However, this popularity contrasts sharply with its traditional use in northern Brazil, where indigenous and local communities have consumed açaí for generations as a savory paste served alongside fish and manioc flour as a dietary staple.

“The legislative recognition of açaí as a national fruit will have a mostly symbolic value. It seeks to reinforce the identity of açaí as a Brazilian product,” explained Sheila de Souza Corrêa de Melo, an intellectual property analyst at Embrapa Oriental, the Amazon branch of Brazil’s Agricultural Research Corporation. The move builds on Brazil’s 2021 ratification of the Nagoya Protocol, an international treaty designed to prevent biopiracy and ensure fair benefit-sharing from genetic resources.

This isn’t Brazil’s first such protective measure. In 2008, the country granted similar recognition to cupuaçu, another Amazon fruit, following trademark disputes with Japanese companies in the early 2000s that attempted to claim rights over these traditional Brazilian resources.