Asaí, huasaí, murrapo palm, manaca palm, naidí, or (in Portuguese) açaí (Euterpe oleracea) is a palm tree native to northern South America, prized for the nutritional properties of its fruit. Its consumption dates back to pre-Columbian times and it is a very important food in the Amazonian diet. Intensive cultivation of azaí has spread within Brazil during the 1980s and 1990s and on a smaller scale in Colombia.