Fruits and sorbitol: 75 foods rated

Apple is the textbook case: it carries sorbitol AND more fructose than glucose, so two FODMAP mechanisms land at once. Cooking concentrates it rather than removing it - polyols are heat-stable. Ma measured that sorbitol rather than inferring it: the apple is one of four fruits separated by HPLC-ELSD, and across the three of them that carry sorbitol at all the values ran 8.70 to 19.13 mg per gram — a range over the three, not a figure for the apple.

• Lenhart A. & Chey W.D., Adv Nutr 8 (2017) 587-596, a systematic review of 79 studies on the effects of polyols
• Ma C. et al., Food Chem 145 (2014) 784-788, fructose, sorbitol, glucose and sucrose in fruits by HPLC-ELSD

Apricot carries sorbitol fresh, and drying multiplies it several times over - see dried apricots, which sit a level higher for that reason alone.

• Lenhart A. & Chey W.D., Adv Nutr 8 (2017) 587-596, a systematic review of 79 studies on the effects of polyols

Canned apricot carries the fresh fruit's sorbitol: canning softens and concentrates it, and nothing in the process removes a polyol. Canning moves some sorbitol into the syrup, so draining helps and the syrup is the part to leave; it does not destroy any. The tin also makes the portion bigger than the fruit ever was.

Blackberry is the one berry with a meaningful sorbitol load - strawberries, raspberries and blueberries do not carry it. Worth knowing if berries feel safe as a category.

• Lenhart A. & Chey W.D., Adv Nutr 8 (2017) 587-596, a systematic review of 79 studies on the effects of polyols

Cherry combines sorbitol with excess fructose, the same double load as apple. A handful crosses the threshold quickly because the fruit is small and easy to keep eating. Ma found sorbitol in the cherry and no sucrose at all in it, which is the unusual half of that result; across the three sorbitol-bearing fruits of the four the values ran 8.70 to 19.13 mg per gram, a range rather than a value for the cherry.

• Lenhart A. & Chey W.D., Adv Nutr 8 (2017) 587-596, a systematic review of 79 studies on the effects of polyols
• Ma C. et al., Food Chem 145 (2014) 784-788, fructose, sorbitol, glucose and sucrose in fruits by HPLC-ELSD

Dried peach concentrates the sorbitol of the fresh fruit into a fraction of the weight, so a few pieces carry what a whole peach would.

• Lenhart A. & Chey W.D., Adv Nutr 8 (2017) 587-596, a systematic review of 79 studies on the effects of polyols

Prunes are the clearest demonstration of what drying does: the water leaves, the sorbitol stays, and what was a moderate fruit becomes a laxative sold as one.

• Lenhart A. & Chey W.D., Adv Nutr 8 (2017) 587-596, a systematic review of 79 studies on the effects of polyols

Peach is a stone fruit, and sorbitol comes with the family. Ripeness raises it, so a soft peach is harder to tolerate than a firm one. Ma put a measurement under that family trait: the peach is one of three fruits in four where sorbitol was detected at all, the three running 8.70 to 19.13 mg per gram between them — a range, not a value for the peach.

• Lenhart A. & Chey W.D., Adv Nutr 8 (2017) 587-596, a systematic review of 79 studies on the effects of polyols
• Ma C. et al., Food Chem 145 (2014) 784-788, fructose, sorbitol, glucose and sucrose in fruits by HPLC-ELSD

Pear carries more sorbitol than almost any other common fruit, which is why it is usually the first thing dropped in a polyol elimination. Peeling does not help - it sits in the flesh.

• Lenhart A. & Chey W.D., Adv Nutr 8 (2017) 587-596, a systematic review of 79 studies on the effects of polyols

Plum has enough sorbitol to be a folk laxative, and that is not a metaphor - the polyol draws water into the bowel. A whole plum is well past a low-FODMAP serving.

• Lenhart A. & Chey W.D., Adv Nutr 8 (2017) 587-596, a systematic review of 79 studies on the effects of polyols

Chokeberry carries sorbitol, and that is what separates it from most berries: Mikulic-Petkovsek found the polyol in three of twenty-five berry species, and this was one of them. No per-species figure is published, so the level is a placing rather than a measurement.

• Mikulic-Petkovsek M et al., J Food Sci 77:10 (2012) C1064-C1070, sugars, organic acids and total phenolics in 25 berry species

Dried apricots concentrate the fresh fruit's sorbitol, and the sulphited ones add a second issue for anyone sensitive to sulphites. Portion is everything here.

• Lenhart A. & Chey W.D., Adv Nutr 8 (2017) 587-596, a systematic review of 79 studies on the effects of polyols

Nectarine is a peach without the fuzz, and its sorbitol follows suit - present, a little lower, and still enough that portion size decides the outcome.

• Lenhart A. & Chey W.D., Adv Nutr 8 (2017) 587-596, a systematic review of 79 studies on the effects of polyols

Avocado carries a little sorbitol along with its perseitol, another polyol. Half an avocado stays within a low-FODMAP serving; a whole one usually does not.

• Lenhart A. & Chey W.D., Adv Nutr 8 (2017) 587-596, a systematic review of 79 studies on the effects of polyols

Dates are dried, but drying only concentrates what was there, and the fresh fruit carries little sorbitol. Their FODMAP problem is fructans, not polyols.

• Lenhart A. & Chey W.D., Adv Nutr 8 (2017) 587-596, a systematic review of 79 studies on the effects of polyols

Jujube carries sorbitol: Hernández separated four sugars in Spanish jujube by HPLC — glucose, fructose, sucrose and sorbitol — and sorbitol was one of them. How much is not published, so this level records a presence and not an amount. The fruit is often sold dried, and drying removes water rather than polyol, so a handful of dried jujubes is a larger dose than the same weight fresh.

• Hernández F. et al., J Sci Food Agric 96:8 (2016) 2682-2691, four sugars in Spanish jujube by HPLC

Raisins are dried grapes, and grapes are one of the few fruits with almost no sorbitol. What concentrates on drying here is fructose, not the polyol.

• Lenhart A. & Chey W.D., Adv Nutr 8 (2017) 587-596, a systematic review of 79 studies on the effects of polyols