guaraná is very special to rio de janeiro, and one of the things that gives the city its tropical feel - with a vast selection of exotic foods and drinks found all over the city, which have come from all corners of the country to keep residents refreshed and healthy, the extraordinary guaraná fruit is a popular ingredient found in a host of products. 

officially a creeping shrub, or a climbing plant, from the maple family, the guaraná plant is one of the many exotic species native to the amazon rainforest, initially growing in northern brazil and southern venezuela - it is one of the most unique plants in the country, and is best known for its striking, bright-red fruit, which contains a white and black seed inside, which some say resembles a human eye.