The Rutgers Nutrient Density Study

In 1997 this Rutgers University study proved that kiwifruit is the most nutrient dense of 27* of the most popular fruits. So ZESPRI™ Kiwifruit fans can feel good about eating power-packed kiwi. Here's the nitty gritty on the study:

OBJECTIVE:
Fruits are all potential sources of many nutrients, but not all fruits are equally rich in nutrient value. The purpose of this study was to determine the most nutrient dense fruits and those that are the best sources of key nutrients.

METHOD:
A comparative analysis was conducted on 27 of the most popular fruits. The study evaluated the ability of a standard 100 grams of each fruit to provide the recommended amounts of 29 dietary constituents, including nine minerals, 10 vitamins, protein, carbohydrate, fiber, fat and cholesterol. From this data, two parameters of nutrient density were calculated:

Daily Value per 100 grams (DV/100g) - an index of the average percent contribution in nutritive value of each fruit per 100 grams.
Calories per nutrient (CPN) -- the cost in calories to deliver 1% of the daily value of nutrients. Foods with high nutrient density have a low CPN.

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RESULTS:
The Rutgers study found **kiwifruit to be the most nutrient dense of 27 of the most popular fruits, followed by, papaya, cantaloupe and strawberry. On the basis of cost in calories per nutrient, kiwifruit has the fifth lowest caloric cost behind lemon and strawberry, cantaloupe and papaya. Also in terms of CPN, kiwifruit shares a top rating for low sodium, high potassium fruit with papaya, apricot and banana.

On an individual food basis, kiwifruit had the highest density for vitamin C; whereas avocado, kiwi and banana led for magnesium compared to other fruits. Avocado, banana and kiwifruit are leading sources for potassium. Kiwifruit was also found to be one of the few low fat sources of vitamin E.

CONCLUSION:
Fruits are important sources of many nutrients and also contain many other elements that may be important factors in disease risk reduction. The strength of the evidence relating increased fruit and vegetable intake to reduced levels of cancer and heart diseases is compelling enough to encourage consumption. Recommendations to patients, clients and the general public for increasing fruit consumption should stress the importance of a variety of fruit choices and suggest inclusion of lesser known but nutritionally dense fruits, such as kiwifruit.

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Nutrient Index, Based on 100 gram weight and Calories
Fruit	Daily Value/100g	Calories per Nutrient
Kiwifruit	16	3.8
Papaya, fresh	14	2.8
Cantaloupe Melon	13	2.6
Strawberry	12	2.5
Mango, fresh	11	5.9
Lemon, fresh, peeled	11	5.9
Orange	11	4.2
Mandarin Orange, fresh	9	5.1
Avocado, fresh	8	20.9
Tangerine, fresh	8	5.2
Grapefruit, fresh	7	4.3
Lime, fresh, peeled	7	4.3
Apricot	7	7.3
Raspberry, fresh	7	6.4
Honeydew Melon	6	6.0
Star Fruit	5.3	6.2
Pineapple, fresh	5	10.2
Grapes (Empress)	4	17.9
Blueberries, fresh	4	14.0
Plums, fresh	4	13.4
Banana, fresh	4	22.4
Watermelon, fresh	3	9.4
Peach, fresh	3	13.4
Nectarine, fresh	3	15.3
Cherry, fresh	3	21.0
Pear, fresh	2	32.8
Apple, with peel	2	32.8

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Fruits Richest in Seven Dietary Constituents (Amounts listed per 100g portion)
Vitamin C
	Kiwifruit	75 mg**
	Papaya	62 mg**
	Strawberry	57 mg**
	Lemon	53 mg**
	Orange	45 mg**


Vitamin A
	Mango	389 RE**
	Cantaloupe	322 RE**
	Apricot	261 RE**
	Mandarin O	92 RE*


Vitamin E
	Avocado	2.3 mg**
	Mango	1.6 mg*
	Kiwifruit	1.6 mg*
	Cherry	0.9 mg*
	Apricot	0.9 mg*
	Nectarine	0.9 mg*


Dietary Fiber
	Raspberry	6 g**
	Avocado	4 g**
	Kiwifruit	3 g*


Folate
	Avocado	62 mcg**
	Papaya	38 mcg*
	Honeydew	30 mcg*
	Raspberry	28 mcg


Potassium
	Avocado	599 mg**
	Banana	396 mg*
	Kiwifruit	331 mg*
	Cantaloupe	309 mg*
	Apricot	296 mg*


Magnesium
	Avocado	39 mg*
	Kiwifruit	30 mg*
	Banana	29 mg*
	Raspberry	18 mg
	Pineapple	14 mg

**Fruit meets definition for "excellent source" based on 140g (5oz) reference serving.
*Fruit meets FDA definition for "good source" based on 140g (5oz) reference serving.

Notes:
*This study was abbreviated for purposes of posting on the zesprikiwi.com Web site. Please contact us if you would like a copy of the full study.

**The Rutgers University study was conducted in 1997, using the green or Hayward variety of kiwifruit. While the nutrient content of ZESPRI™ GREEN and GOLD Kiwifruit are similar, they do differ somewhat.
Click here to view the U.S. and Canadian nutrition charts for green and gold kiwifruit.

A Nutritional Assessment of Major Fruits, 1997
By Paul A. Lachance, Ph.D., FACN
Cook College, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
&
A. Elizabeth Sloan, Ph.D.
President, Applied Biometrics
Stuart, Florida

Published in the American College of Nutrition Journal, October 1997

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