Açai (Euterpe precatoria Mart. Arecaceae) from the Northern Region of Bolivia is not contaminated with Trypanosoma cruzi

Abstract

Chagas disease is one of the most important public health problems in the American continent and it is caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. Chagas disease is usually transmitted by vectors such as Triatomine insects. However, oral transmission has gathered worldwide attention because it is generating more infections than the traditional vectorial transmission in regions like the Brazilian Amazon, probably due to the increased consumption of tropical fruits such as acai. Acai palms (genus Euterpe) are one of the tropical fruits which have become very popular due to its good nutritional properties which include high antioxidant activity. Acai fruits have different sources depending of their geographical origin. Acai palms (Euterpe oleracea Mart.) are cultivated in Brazil, while the acai in Bolivia grows in wild populations and belongs to a different acai species, the solitary acai (Euterpe precatoria Mart.). Only acai from Brazil has been involved in oral transmission of Chagas disease, while Bolivian acai has been regarded as disease free. In order to verify the absence of T. cruzi on acai products from Bolivia, we developed a method to detect T. cruzi DNA by real-Time PCR with internal controls for acai (E. precatoria). In this study we show that acai good manufacturing process did not interfere with the detection of acai or T. cruzi DNA. Finally, we report that freshly collected acai fruits and acai frozen pulps from Bolivia were not contaminated with T. cruzi.