Natural food-Fruit Vitamin C Content

All values in the chart below are rounded to the nearest whole number. Exactly half a milligram is rounded up, not down.

Most of the information is from the USDA Nutrient database for standard reference, release 12 (1998). There is occasional wide variation in results between different investigators. For example, the USDA Nutrient database lists fresh Jujube at 69 mg vitamin C in every 100 mg flesh, where investigators at the University of California listed around 500 mg/100 grams. In the case of jujube, this may be caused because the fruit increase in vitamin C content with maturation, or it may be that different varieties tested have different levels, or a combination of both.

So these figures should not be taken as 'gospel', but rather as indicative. The vitamin C content of many fruit is higher when it is slightly immature, and declines as the fruit hits peak ripeness. For a few, such as the jujube fruit already mentioned, the vitamin C content does the opposite, it rises with increased ripeness. Vitamin C content also decreases with storage. For example, the kiwifruit is an exceptionally rich source of vitamin C - a medium sized fruit has 74 mg, but a kiwifruit that has been coolstored for a while has a vitamin C content of 57 mgs. Still excellent, but less excellent! 

  

In terms of consumer acceptability and likely frequency of eating, the yellow fleshed kiwifruit can be considered the best source of vitamin C in commercially available fruit. 

  

Generally far more important than ripening and storage effects, is the effect of the variety of fruit. In some fruits, the amount of 

vitamin C varies between different varieties of the same species. The tropical guava, Psidium guajava, is regarded as an excellent source of vitamin C, but there is great variation in vitamin C levels amongst the various cultivated varieties. For example, the variety 'Donaldson' has 372 mg/100 grams of flesh, but the variety 'Supreme' has only 44 mg/100 gms (some South African pink guava cultivars grown for the canning industry are said to have an astonishing 400 mg/100 gms!). Again, for mangoes, the varieties 'Pirie' and 'Haden' are only 'fair' sources, where other varieties are 'excellent' sources.

The current (1989) recommended daily allowance (RDA) for an adult is 60 milligrams per day (this is based on the amount of vitamin C needed to prevent clinical scurvy and provide body stores sufficient to prevent scurvy for around 30 days, plus "a margin of safety"). 

Pregnant and lactating women are regarded as needing more than this. Some people claim that the optimum intake is 500 mg per day. Recent test on healthy males clearly show 200mg per day is required to maintain tissues at full saturation, but without excreting vitamin C. Women have not been tested. At April 1999, it is being 'officially' recommended, based on new information, that the RDA ought to be changed to 120 milligrams per day.[4] 

  

The daily intake for a gatherer hunter would depend on the season, the particular ecosystem the tribe was living in, and the size of the family unit that shared whatever resource was available. The daily intake would probably have been well in excess of the RDA at times of year when fruit and greens were relatively abundant, and at other times may well have been much less. Either way, it is unlikely we took in 500 mg per day every day. The 500 mg so called 'optimum' probably reflects the need for a city living human to protect against stressful living, and the now wide exposure to damaging environmental chemicals. Such a level can only realistically be obtained by taking supplemental vitamin C.

Nutritionists generally regard any 'serving' of food that provides 10% to 25% of the daily vitamin C need in a relatively low calorie package as a 'good' source. The serving size most of us choose is pretty uniform - most of us would eat one apple, half an avocado in a salad, half a medium sized tomato as part of a salad, one banana, a slice of melon, and so on. On this basis, some fruits, such as kiwifruit, are quite outstanding, in that they provide more than the RDA in one relatively small fruit. Other fruits, such as oranges, are both very good sources and are also cheap, and pack in a lunch without crushing or leaking. So their importance is much greater than their vitamin C content alone would suggest.

Vitamin C is an important anti-oxidant, helps protect against cancers, heart disease, stress, it is part of the cellular chemistry that provides energy, it is essential for sperm production, and for making the collagen protein involved in the building and health of cartilage, joints, skin, and blood vessels. Vitamin C helps in maintaining a healthy immune system, it aids in neutralizing pollutants, is needed for antibody production, acts to increase the absorption of nutrients (including iron) in the gut, and thins the blood. Just to mention its most important functions.

Any fruit, or natural portion (e.g. slice of melon, or a handful of berries) in the chart below which has from 6 to 15 milligrams of vitamin C and is not highly packed with sugars is regarded as a 'good' source. Some very sweet fruit, such as apples, can be regarded as fairly good sources because they have more than 6 milligrams a serving, but not much more. Some very acid fruit, for example Surinam cherry, have 'good' absolute levels in the flesh, but are both small and unpalatable, so only one or two would ever be eaten at any one time. Therefore they are ranked lower than more acceptable fruit of a similar size and vitamin C content.

Any fruit, or natural portion (e.g. slice of melon, or a handful of berries) that gives from about 15 milligrams to about 30 milligrams can be considered a 'very good' source of vitamin C

When a fruit or natural portion (e.g. slice of melon, or a handful of berries) has more than about 30 milligrams per serving, it is an 'excellent' source of Vitamin C.

Obviously, when a single serving supplies a lot better than the current RDA of vitamin C, it is an 'exceptional' source, at least in my view!

The half ripe fruit of the camu camu, a shrubby tree of the Amazon, has the distinction of having the highest recorded levels of any fruit, surpassing even the highest levels recorded in the acerola. At 2.7 grams of ascorbic acid per 100 grams of fruit, the ascorbic acid content is nothing short of astounding! ('Ascorbic acid' is the technical term for vitamin C). 

  

If you can add vitamin C analysis of fruit not listed here I would be pleased to receive it. Email me at 

removethespamtrapfirsttempre1@naturalhub.com

 

Fruit	Latin name	mg vitamin C/ 100 grams	mg vitamin Cper average size fruit/slice*	Ranking	Notes
**Acerola	Malpighia glabra	1,677	80	exceptional*
Apple	Malus sylvestris	6	8	fairly good
Apricot	Prunus armeniaca	10	4	-
Apricot, canned	Prunus armeniaca	3	2	-
Asian pear	Pyrus serotina	4	5	-
Avocado	Persea americana	8	16	fairly good
Banana	Musa X paradisiaca	9	11	good
Babaco	Carica pubescens x stipulata forma 'pentagona'	21 to 32	21 to 32	very good	[1]
Barbados Cherry	Malpighia glabra	1,678	112	exceptional	[7]
Bilberry	Vaccinium myrtillus	1	0.01*(estim)	-	[1]
**Baobab	Adonsonia digitata	150 to 499	100	exceptional	[2]
Breadfruit	Artocarpus altilis	29	28*	very good
Blackberry	Rubus sp.	6	0.6(estim)	-	[1]
Blackcurrant	Ribes nigrum	155 to 215	1.5 to 2*(estim.)	excellent	[1]
Blueberry	Vaccinium sp	1.3 to 16.4	no data*	-	[3]
**Camu Camu	Myrciaria dubia	2,700	no data	astounding
Carambola	Averrhoa carambola	21	19	very good
Casimiroa	Casimiroa edulis	30	15*	very good
Crabapple	Malus sp.	8	2 (estim.)	-
Cherimoya	Annona cherimola	9	10*	fairly good
Custard apple	Annona reticulata	19	no data	very good
Feijoa	Feijoa sellowiana	25	13	good
Feijoa	Feijoa sellowiana cv. 'Mammoth'	31	16	very good	[6]
Feijoa	Feijoa sellowianacv.'Triumph'	27	14	good	[6]
Fig	Ficus carica	2	1	-
Grape, slip skin	Vitis spp	4	.01	-
Grape, european	Vitis vinifera	11	.60	good*
Grapefruit	Citrus paradisi	34	44*	excellent
**Guava, Cattley	Psidium cattleianum	37	2	very good*
Guava, tropical	Psidium guajava	183	165	exceptional
**Java plum	Syzgium cumini	14	.42	-
Jujube	Ziziphus jujuba	500	no data	exceptional*
Kakadu Plum	Terminalia ferdinandiana	2300 to 3150	60 *(estim)	excellent*	[8]
**Kei apple	Dovyalis caffra	117	17	excellent*
Kiwano™	Cucumis metuliferus	0.5	0.5	-	[1]
Kiwifruit, green	Actinidia deliciosa	98	74	exceptional
Kiwifruit, yellow	Actinidia chinensis	120 to 180	108 to 162	exceptional
Lemon juice	Citrus limon	46	3*	-
Lime juice	Citrus aurantifolia	29	1*	-
Longan	Dimocarpus longan	84	3*	good
Loquat	Eriobotrya japonica	1	.5	-
Lychee	Litchi chinensis	72	7*	very good
Mango	Mangifera indica	28	57	excellent
**Marula	Sclerocarya birrea	68	60(estim)	excellent
Medlar	Mespilus germanica	0.3	0.15(estim)	-	[1]
Melon, cantaloupe	Cucumis melo	42	29*	very good
Melon, honeydew	Cucumis melo	25	20*	very good
**Muntingia	Muntingia calabura	80	4*(estim)	excellent
**Natal plum	Carissa macrocarpa	38	8	good
Orange	Citrus sinensis	53	70	excellent
Opuntia cactus	Opuntia spp.	23	no data	very good?
Papaya	Carica papaya	62	47*	excellent
**Pawpaw/Asimina	Asimina triloba	14	28(estim)	good†
Passionfruit, purple	Passiflora edulis	30	5	-
Peach	Prunus persica	7	6	-
Peach, canned	Prunus persica	3	3	-
Pear	Pyrus communis	4	7	-
**Persimmon, American	Diospyros virginiana	66	13*(estim.)	excellent
Persimmon, Oriental	Diospyros kaki	40	40*(estim.)	excellent
Pineapple	Ananus comosus	15	13	good
Plum	Prunus sp	10	6	fairly good
Quince	Cydonia oblonga	15	15	good
Raspberry	Rubus spp.	25	.5	-
Raspberry	Rubus spp.	23 to 32	0.7 to 1*	very good	[1]
Redcurrant	Ribes sativum	58 to 81	0.58 to 0.81*(estim)	good	[1]
Rosehip	Rosa pomifera cv.'Karpatia'	1,500	45(estim.)	excellent	[5]
Rosehip	Rosa sp. cv.'Pi Ro 3'	1,150	34(estim.)	very good	[5]
Rosehip	Rosa sp. cv.'Vitaminnyj-VNIVI'	2,000 to2,500	60 to 75(estim.)	excellent	[5]
**Surinam cherry	Eugenia uniflora	26	2	-
Sapodilla	Manilkara zapota	15	25	very good
Strawberry	Fragaria x ananassa	57	7*	very good
Tangerine/Mandarin	Citrus reticulata	31	26	very good
Tamarillo, red	Cyphomandra betaceae	40	40	excellent
Tamarillo, red	Cyphomandra betaceae	31	22	very good	[6]
Tamarillo, yellow	Cyphomandra betaceae	33	30	very good	[6]
Tamarillo, yellow	Cyphomandra betaceae	31	22	very good
Tomato	Lycopersicon sp	19	23	very good
Watermelon	Citrullus lanatus	10	27	very good

 

* The values are for one whole fruit, but no one (that I would want to know) eats a whole medium sized watermelon at a sitting, so for these larger fruit the value is for a slice, a 'slice' being, very generally, about an eighth of a medium sized fruit, or a quarter of a 'smaller' fruit. 

In the particular case of lemon and lime, the 'slice' value is juice of one wedge. 

For a few small fruit, such as Kei apple, the ranking is adjusted upward where the fruit mg/100 gram analysis shows it has large amounts of vitamin C,  but the small size of the fruit gives it a lower per fruit vitamin C content. You are likely to eat more than one at a serving. In the case of tiny fruit, like red or black currants, a lot more, but probably still only 20-30 raw fruit, especially if they are a bit acid..

  

** You won't find these fruit in the shops. They are natural environment fruits that we have not domesticated for one reason or another. Most will never be domesticated. Some can be grown at home in the backyard. 

  

† Asimina fruits range in vitamin C content from about 7mg/100 grams edible to about 21mg/100 grams, depending on the variety. Therefore some varieties are a 'good' source of vitamin C, others are a 'very good' source.