Dried Apricot
Serving sizes
Dried Apricot changes rating with portion size. These are the amounts tested in the literature behind our ratings.
- About 3g
- Larger portions
- Much larger portions
Dried apricots are High FODMAP at a usual serving, though about 3g is low.
- Dried apricot is low only at about 3g, a small sliver.
- Drying concentrates Sorbitol and Fructans, so larger portions are moderate and much larger portions are high.
- They turn up in trail mixes and snack bars, where the amount quietly adds up.
Use them very sparingly as a flavor accent, or reach for a fresh low-FODMAP fruit instead.
Why dried apricot is rated high
Dried apricot is rated high, and it is high on two fronts at once: fructans and sorbitol. Apricots carry both in the fresh fruit, and drying pulls the water out and leaves those two behind in a much smaller, much sweeter package, so a serving that looks modest represents a lot of apricot. The low serve is a tiny piece: about 3g is low, a larger portion is moderate and a much larger portion, such as a small handful, is high.
What changes your risk
- Drying shrinks the fruit, not the FODMAPs The water leaves and the fructans and sorbitol stay, which is the entire reason dried apricot sits where it does while looking like a modest snack.
- The low serve is a nibble About 3g, a small piece of one apricot, is low. Larger portions are moderate and much larger portions are high, so a handful from the bag is well past the low serve.
- Two subgroups means two stacking risks The fructans pile up with wheat bread and pasta, onion, garlic and inulin or chicory root fibre in bars and yoghurts. The sorbitol piles up with fresh stone fruit, pear and sugar-free gum or mints. A single day can hit both without any one food looking like the culprit.
- The snack bar problem Dried apricot turns up chopped into muesli bars, fruit and nut mixes and energy balls, where it is blended with other dried fruit and is very hard to portion or even see.
- Cooking and soaking do not undo it Simmering apricots into a tagine or soaking them before baking does not break down fructans or sorbitol, and whatever dissolves into the sauce is served along with the fruit.
Swaps
The role dried apricot plays is sweet, sticky and savoury at the same time, and no dried fruit on the low FODMAP list fills it, so it is more useful to rebuild the effect than to look for a lookalike. In a tagine or a rice pilaf, sweetness from maple syrup or a little table sugar plus a savoury base built on garlic-infused oil, chives and the green tops of spring onions gets you the sweet and savoury contrast without the fructans. For snacking, oranges, mandarins, strawberries, kiwi or a firm just-yellow banana cover the fruit craving, and walnuts, pecans, macadamias, peanuts or pumpkin seeds cover the handful-of-something habit. Dried apple, dried pear and fresh peaches, plums or nectarines are not swaps, because they share the sorbitol.
How to lower the load
Read past the front of the pack. Dried apricot appears in tagines and Moroccan-style stews, stuffing and rice dishes, muesli bars, fruit and nut mixes, Christmas baking and lamb dishes, and on cheese boards. Choosing unsulphured apricots is a preservative decision and changes nothing about the fructans or sorbitol, so the dark brown ones sit exactly where the bright orange ones do. If you cook for a family that likes apricot in a stew, adding the fruit to individual bowls at the table rather than to the pot keeps the fructans and sorbitol out of the shared sauce, which is where they would otherwise end up in every serving.
Common questions
how many dried apricots can i eat on a low fodmap diet
About 3g, a small piece, is low. Larger portions are moderate and much larger portions, such as a small handful, are high.
why are dried apricots high fodmap
Drying removes the water and concentrates what is left, so the fructans and sorbitol end up packed into a far smaller piece of fruit.
are dried apricots high in fructans or sorbitol
Both. Dried apricot carries fructans and sorbitol, which is why it stacks with two very different groups of foods in the same day.
what can i put in a tagine instead of dried apricot
Build the sweetness with maple syrup or table sugar and the savoury base with garlic-infused oil, chives and the green tops of spring onions. Dried apple and dried pear are not substitutes, since they bring sorbitol of their own.
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Where this rating comes from
Dried Apricot is rated from published lab measurements of its FODMAP content, using the low, moderate and high cutoffs of Varney et al. (2017).
Feedback sent through the FODMAP Foods app has led to changes in this list.
Sources
- Fructan and free fructose content of common Australian vegetables and fruit. Muir et al. (2007), J. Agricultural and Food Chemistry 55(16):6619-6627.
- Measurement of short-chain carbohydrates in common Australian vegetables and fruits by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Muir et al. (2009), J. Agricultural and Food Chemistry 57(2):554-565.
- Quantification of fructans, galacto-oligosaccharides and other short-chain carbohydrates in processed grains and cereals. Biesiekierski et al. (2011), J. Human Nutrition and Dietetics 24(2):154-176.
- Dietary sorbitol and mannitol: food content and distinct absorption patterns between healthy individuals and patients with irritable bowel syndrome. Yao et al. (2014), J. Human Nutrition and Dietetics 27(Suppl 2):263-275.
- FODMAPs: food composition, defining cutoff values and international application. Varney et al. (2017), J. Gastroenterology and Hepatology 32(Suppl 1):53-61. Supplies the low, moderate and high cutoffs used on this page.
Informational only, not medical advice. Individual tolerance varies. Talk to a healthcare professional or a dietitian for personal guidance.