India, July 26 -- Long ago, during a great famine in the Amazon rainforest, a tribal chief named Itaqui made a heart-breaking decision: no more children could be raised within the village until food became plentiful again.

When his daughter Iaca gave birth, her child was taken away like all the others. Grieving, Iaca prayed to the forest spirits for a miracle. One night, she heard a baby crying and followed the sound. Beneath a tall palm, she thought she saw her child smiling. Iaca died peacefully, beneath the tree.

The next morning, the tribe found her body under a palm that bore dark, rich berries. These berries became a new, abundant food source. In her memory, the legend goes, the tree was named acai (Iaca spelled in reverse).

Acai...