Açaí juice is a major dietary component of Brazilian diets, especially in the Pará region. It is often eaten at breakfast with cassava meal (manioc) or with tapioca and sugar. The açaí fruit is rich in nutrients and is found in many Brazilian prepared foods. The fruit is most popularly used to make juice, but is also found in ice cream, popsicles, and various desserts.

Açaí seeds can be crushed to produce a green oil that has been used as a folk remedy for scrofula (a type of tuberculosis). The roasted, crushed seeds, consumed as tea, are a traditional remedy for fever. Tea made from the root is a folk remedy for jaundice and anemia. Tea made from the grated fruit rind has been used topically as a wash for skin ulcers. Boiled preparations of açaí root have been used traditionally to treat many diseases, including diabetes, hepatitis, malaria, kidney disease, and dysmenorrhea (menstrual pain).

No clinical trials of açaí for the prevention or treatment of any health condition have been published in the medical literature.