Nectarine

High FODMAP

Tested serving

1 fruit (151g) High

Fructans Sorbitol

Nectarines are High FODMAP at 1 fruit (151g), driven mainly by Sorbitol with a helping of Fructans.

The Sorbitol here is a polyol that many people find hard to absorb, and it sits high in a whole nectarine at 1 fruit (151g), while Fructans add a moderate second layer to the load.
Nectarines are often eaten fresh out of hand or sliced into fruit salads, and they tend to get sweeter and juicier as they ripen, so keep an eye on how they show up in mixed bowls and canned or dried forms.

If you're craving a fresh, juicy fruit, try reaching for a low-FODMAP staple like a serving of oranges or a small portion of berries instead.

Per 1 fruit (151g): 0.45g fructans, 1.52g sorbitol.

Why nectarine is rated high

Nectarine is high FODMAP at 1 fruit (151g), and that is the only serving the published data tests. Two subgroups are at work: Sorbitol does most of the pushing, and Fructans sit underneath it as a second layer, so the load comes from two directions rather than one. Because there is no smaller rung on the ladder, there is no tested amount of nectarine that comes in lower, and nothing on this page should be read as a green light for a reduced helping. During the strict phase of a low FODMAP diet, nectarine is one of the fruits that sits out, and it is usually brought back later under the guidance of a dietitian.

What changes your risk

Serving size The ladder has a single rung, 1 fruit (151g), and it is high. Nothing smaller has been tested, so no low nectarine serving can honestly be named.
Drying Drying pulls the water out and leaves everything else behind, so dried nectarine packs the same sorbitol and fructans into a far smaller piece than the fresh fruit. Dried slices in trail mix and muesli are easy to eat without noticing.
Juicing and blending A glass of nectarine juice or a smoothie takes the sugars of more than one fruit and drops the fibre, so it runs higher than the whole fruit it came from. Blending does not break FODMAPs down.
Stacking with other sorbitol foods A low FODMAP diet counts the meal, not just the item. Sorbitol from avocado, apricot, blackberry and anything sweetened with sorbitol or xylitol lands in the same bucket, and the fructans side stacks with wheat bread, onion, garlic and chicory root fibre.
Cooking, poaching and canning Grilling, roasting or stewing nectarine does not destroy its FODMAPs, because heat does not break them down. Water soluble FODMAPs can move into poaching syrup or canning liquid, but no drained or canned nectarine serving has been tested, so this is not a route to a low serving.

Swaps

For the fresh, juicy, eat it over the sink role, oranges, mandarins, kiwi, grapes, cantaloupe and pineapple all fill it without the sorbitol, and strawberries, blueberries or raspberries work when you want something to scatter over yoghurt or porridge. For grilling on a summer plate, pineapple rings caramelise beautifully and a firm just-yellow banana holds its shape. The lookalikes to leave alone are the rest of the stone fruit shelf: peach, plum, apricot and cherry carry the same sorbitol problem, and pear and blackberry are no gentler, so swapping one for another changes the flavour and not the load.

How to lower the load

Nectarine is most often met by accident rather than by choice, so the useful habit is spotting it. Cafe fruit salads, breakfast buffets, canned fruit medleys and supermarket fruit pots lean on stone fruit because it is cheap and looks good, and a mixed bowl can carry nectarine alongside peach and plum, which stacks sorbitol on sorbitol. Ask what is in the fruit salad before ordering, buy a punnet of berries or a bag of mandarins when the craving hits, and keep frozen berries in the freezer so there is something sweet in the house that is not stone fruit. If you are cooking for a table, serve the nectarine on the side rather than through the dish, so your portion is not built into the whole tray.

Common questions

how much nectarine is low fodmap

There is no low serving in the tested data. The one tested serving, 1 fruit (151g), is high, and no smaller amount has been tested, so nectarine does not have a low rung to aim for.

is nectarine high in sorbitol

Yes. Sorbitol is the main driver of the high rating at 1 fruit (151g), with fructans adding a second layer on top of it.

can i eat nectarine on the elimination phase

Nectarine is one of the fruits normally left out during the strict phase, because its only tested serving is high. Reintroducing it later is something to work through with a dietitian.

are dried nectarines any better than fresh

No, they run the other way. Drying removes water and concentrates the sorbitol and fructans, so a dried piece delivers the same load in a much smaller mouthful.

Learn more

Informational only, not medical advice. Individual tolerance varies. Talk to a healthcare professional or a dietitian for personal guidance.

References

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 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. 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.