List of Non-Starchy Fruits
The next time you bite into a ripe peach, you can thank the sun – and time – for providing such sweet succulence. Carbohydrates are a product of photosynthesis, and they help fuel the growth of the plants that make them. Fruit generally contains significant amounts of complex carbohydrates, or starch, only when it’s young. Nearly all of this starch changes to sugar as fruit matures, which is why fruit becomes sweeter as it ripens.
Melons stop ripening once they’ve been picked, which means that a firm, tasteless one was probably harvested too soon. Like most kinds of fruit, ripe melons contain virtually no starch. A 1-cup serving of diced cantaloupe has about 50 calories and 13 grams of digestible carbohydrates. About 96 percent of these carbohydrates come from the simple sugars sucrose, fructose and glucose, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Berries are another fruit that must ripen fully before they’re harvested, or they tend to be rather tart. According to the USDA, fructose and glucose account for roughly 90 percent of the calories supplied by ripe seedless grapes. Although blueberries contain a negligible amount of starch, they still derive about 70 percent of their carbohydrates – and calories – from simple carbohydrates. Strawberries, raspberries and blackberries are also virtually starch-free.
You won’t get a significant amount of starch from oranges, tangerines, grapefruit, lemons or any other citrus variety. Although citrus fruits do develop sugar as they ripen on the tree, some types are inherently more acidic than they are sweet. Roughly 80 percent of the calories supplied by a tangerine comes from simple sugars, mostly in the form of sucrose. According to the USDA, tangerines have 0 grams of starch.
Stone fruits such as apricots, nectarines, peaches, plums and cherries also contain little to no starch when ripe. These fruits generally don’t develop more sugar after they’ve been harvested, but they do get softer and juicier when left at room temperature. Sugar accounts for nearly 90 percent of the calories provided by a ripe peach, and more than 80 percent of the calories you get from cherries. Both fruits are starch-free, according to the USDA.
Apples and pears are the most commonly available pome fruits in the United States, and neither is a significant source of starch. Pears are picked before they ripen, and most of their sugars develop as they sit on your kitchen counter. Apples are harvested when they’re ripe, and if left unrefrigerated they quickly become overripe and mealy. According to the USDA, an average-sized apple has about 100 calories, and 80 percent of them come from fructose, glucose and sucrose.
With the exception of bananas, the vast majority of commonly consumed fruits qualify as non-starchy. Although bananas still derive more than 50 percent of their calories from simple sugars, almost 25 percent of their calories come from starch. Vegetables and grains are among the most significant sources of starch. Certain vegetables, including peas and carrots, are sweetest when they’re freshest. Unlike most fruits, the carbohydrates in these foods shift from sugar to starch as they age.
- USDA Nutrient Data Laboratory: Melons, Cantaloupe, Raw
- USDA Nutrient Data Laboratory: Grapes, Red or Green (European Type, Such as Thompson Seedless), Raw
- USDA Nutrient Data Laboratory: Blueberries, Raw
- USDA Nutrient Data Laboratory: Tangerines, (Mandarin Oranges), Raw
- USDA Nutrient Data Laboratory: Peaches, Raw
- USDA Nutrient Data Laboratory: Cherries, Sweet, Raw
- USDA Nutrient Data Laboratory: Apples, Raw, With Skin
- USDA Nutrient Data Laboratory: Bananas, Raw
- Wellness Foods A to Z: An Indispensible Guide for Health-Conscious Food Lovers; Sheldon Margen, M.D., et al.
- American Dietetic Association Complete Food and Nutrition Guide; Roberta Larson Duyff, M.S., R.D.
Based just outside Chicago, Meg Campbell has worked in the fitness industry since 1997. She’s been writing health-related articles since 2010, focusing primarily on diet and nutrition. Campbell divides her time between her hometown and Buenos Aires, Argentina.