Our Açaí and Acerola berry powders are wildcrafted and people have asked us what this “wildcrafted” means. Let’s have a look at what the difference is between wildcrafted, organic and conventional ways of growing and harvesting plants.
Wildcrafted Acerola & Acai vs Organic vs Conventional
Wildcrafted, organic, and conventional are three ways to grow and harvest plants.
Wildcrafted
Wildcrafted Acerola & Acai grow in nature without any human involvement. There are natural stressors in this environment, like competing plants, fluctuations in sunlight and temperature, the availability of water, insects and disease.
The Acerola and acai are forced by these stressors to fully develop their nutrients and phytonutrients, which they need to thrive under these conditions. As a result, plants become more resilient, and the strength of their phytonutrients increase.
The body has greater chemical affinity and better recognizes wildcrafted plants because they grow naturally. Wildcrafted plants work better in reversing disease and supporting homeostasis than organically and conventionally grown plants.
Using wildcrafted plants is is also eco-friendly. Following wildcrafting harvesting guideline protects the plant’s environment. As a sustainable practice, herbalists gather roots, leaves, and seeds at the correct time of year during their highest potency. Careful to only gather a small percentage of any stand, wildcrafters have been ahead of their time in preserving the earth’s resources.
Harvesting Wildcrafted Plants
- There are guidelines to follow when harvesting wildcrafted Acai & Acerola:
- Never harvest an endangered species.
- Do not pick immature plants.
- Do not collect more than 15% of a particular in an area.
- Do not harvest more plants than needed at a given time.
- Do not damage surrounding plant or environment.
- Never harvest plants that are close to industrialized areas or highways to avoid pollution contamination.
- Do not harvest from compromised environments.
- Plants seeds if the whole plants needs harvesting.
By following these guidelines, wildcrafting is environmentally sustainable, because this method will ensure new growth that will help maintain the environment’s ecosystem.
Organic
Commercially produced organic Acerola and Acai grow in controlled farm environments. Stressors are absent in these controlled environments, and so there’s nothing to bring out the full resiliency of the plant’s phytonutrients.
Organic plants shouldn’t be a product of genetic manipulation, yet they can be a product of hybridization. Hybridization is the combining or cross-pollination of two or more plants to create a new plant species.
There is no place for harmful synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides in commercially produced organic plants. It’s also not allowed to grow plants on polluted land.
Conventional
In terms of conventional growing of plants, there is very little regulation. You can genetically modify (GMO) or hybridize conventional plants, which can negatively affect the plant’s nutrient composition.
It is also possible to grow conventional plants using synthetic fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides, and as a result increase the risk of cancer.
GMO and the use of synthetic fertilizers consequently develop abnormally big plants, which is good for production.
The plants become contaminated with these chemicals, and as a result often become carcinogenic and undermine the medicinal value of the plants.
Read more on Our Acerola here
Read more on our Acai here
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