Review · Food chemistry · 2015

Sorbitol levels in blackberries, raspberries and other fruits

Fully ripe blackberries and raspberries contain little to no sorbitol across 82 fruit samples tested.

Tree fruits like plums and cherries had much higher amounts than cane fruits.

What they found

Studies in people

Gut issues and sugar ratios

Stomach problems blamed on sugar alcohols may actually come from the mix of fructose, glucose and sorbitol eaten together rather than sorbitol alone. A diet very low in certain fermentable sugars eased gut symptoms in people with irritable bowel syndrome. That special diet contained an average of 0.20 g of polyols per day, while a normal diet averaged 4.21 g per day.

Dried plums and laxative effects

Dried prune plums contain 9 to 18 g of sorbitol per 100 g. Their laxative effect in people comes from their fibre and plant compounds as well as their sorbitol content.

Other findings

Sorbitol in Rubus fruit

Out of 82 fully ripe fruit samples tested, most had zero detectable sugar alcohol. Only three showed any: cloudberry at 0.01 g/100 g, red raspberry at 0.03 g/100 g, and one unusual blackberry at 4.8 g/100 g. That single blackberry result was highly unusual because 73 other blackberry samples had none.

Tree fruits versus cane fruits

Fruits from trees like sweet cherry had up to 6.8 g/100 g of sugar alcohol. Cane fruits like strawberries had far less, with a maximum of 0.06 g/100 g in fresh fruit. Dried prune plums held the most, reaching up to 18 g/100 g.

Processing adds sorbitol

Making juice or jam can raise sugar alcohol levels compared to fresh fruit. Some commercial enzymes used in food production contain up to 55 g of sorbitol per 100 g. Using underripe fruit also leads to higher sugar alcohol levels than using fully ripe fruit.

What the authors conclude

They hope their work clears up the false idea that blackberries and raspberries are high in sugar alcohols.
They note that a serving of fresh, fully ripe berries provides far less sugar alcohol than a serving of juice or dried fruit.
They point out that most tested berries had no detectable sugar alcohol at all, so they are clearly not a high source.

How it was done

Nutritionists and shoppers often wrongly believe that blackberries and raspberries are high in sugar alcohols. The authors wanted to clear up this confusion so people would not avoid these fruits for no reason.

The authors gathered past research on simple sugars in fruits from the rose family and beyond. They looked at data covering 24 plant groups and species. They also summarised how sugar alcohols relate to human health.

What it can’t tell you

This work gathers past measurements rather than testing health outcomes directly. It cannot show whether eating these fruits causes gut symptoms in everyday life.
Lab measurements of sugar content do not tell us how individual bodies digest or react to those sugars.

Who paid

Authors work at: United States Department of Agriculture, USA

The paper

Title: Sorbitol, Rubus fruit, and misconception
Type: ReviewThe authors read earlier studies and describe what they found. It isn’t a new study.
Evidence: Studies in people
Summarised from: Full text
Cite: Lee J (2015). Sorbitol, Rubus fruit, and misconception. Food chemistry. doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2014.06.073Free full text PubMed 25053101 DOI

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