Camu Camu, whose biological name is Myrciaria dubia, is a small bushy plant growing in the Amazon area of Peru. Camu Camu is used mainly for its edible fruits.

Long used by native peoples, wild Camu Camu is harvested directly into canoes. The fruit has only recently come into large-scale cultivation and sale to the world market outside South America.

The extraordinarily high Vitamin C content (in the order of 2-3% of fresh weight) is the most important property of the Camu Camu fruit.

Camu Camu offers astringent, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-pain, anti-viral, emollient and nutritive properties and contains natural beta-carotene, calcium, iron, niacin, phosphorus, protein, riboflavin, thiamin and the amino acids valine, leucine and serine. This makes Camu Camu invaluable for metabolic processes, including the formation of white blood cells, maintaining a healthy immune system, and support for the brain, lymph glands, heart and lungs.

Anti-Depressant Treatment Camu Camu appears to provide nutritional support for the brain to optimize its own mood-balancing chemistry.

People experiencing Camu Camu have stopped using large dosages of synthetic vitamin C because they find that just 1 to 2 grams daily of natural vitamin C sources such as Camu Camu is superior in strengthening the immune system, energizing and mood-lifting effects. One to two grams of Camu Camu, once or twice daily, can clear up most cases of bleeding gums and provide remarkable energy-boosting effects. It has the additional benefit of being non-irritating to sensitive stomachs and bladders.

The Camu Camu fruit has a surprising range of medicinal effects as measured both by traditional use and by the variety of phytochemical compounds which have demonstrated therapeutic effects. Dr. James Duke retired chief botanist for the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture and author of many botanical books, including the popular Green Pharmacy, lists some of these effects in his Ethno botanical website, based on amounts of various phytochemicals which Camu Camu contains. On Dr. Duke’s website, in a comparative study of hundreds of botanical agents, ranked in order of effectiveness for various health conditions, Camu Camu was ranked as follows:

• anti-viral - No. 6;
• gingivitis-periodontal disease - No. 1;
• antioxidant - No. 4;
• glaucoma - No. 1;
• asthma - No. 1;
• hepatitis - No. 1;
• atherosclerosis - No. 1;
• infertility - No. 1;
• cataracts - No. 1;
• migraine-cluster headaches - No. 1;
• colds - No. 1;
• osteoarthritis - No. 1;
• depression - No. 2;
• painkiller - No. 1;
• edema - No. 1
• Parkinson’s disease - No. 1

This is only a partial listing.

Progress toward more competitive cropping of Camu Camu in plantations (as opposed to wild collecting), however, might compromise benefits to rural people now deriving benefits from collecting fruits from the wild
Camu Camu capsules contain pure extract powder which is an exclusive wild-crafted, spray-dried concentrate of Camu Camu fruit. The spray-drying process allows the powder extract to attain four times the nutrient and vitamin C concentration of the whole fruit.