Fruits are known for being high in vitamins, but they can also have a good amount of certain nutrients like potassium.
I’ve collected nutritional data from 25 different fruits to see how much potassium is in each.
We’ll also compare the potassium in fruits to other vegetables.
Table of Contents
How Much Potassium Do You Need?
The amount of potassium you need varies significantly depending on your age and gender.
The table below shows the recommended daily allowance (RDA) from the NIH:
Most adult males should aim for at least 3,400 mg of potassium per day, while adult women usually need about 2,600 mg.
It is possible to get too much potassium, but it’s quite difficult and not something most people need to worry about.
How Much Potassium is in Fruit?
With that out of the way, we can put the amount of potassium found in fruit into context.
The table below shows the amount of potassium in a 100 gram serving of 25 different fruits, sorted from most to least. Note that the RDA column uses 3,400 mg as a basis, so you may actually need fewer servings than the table indicates.
| Food | Potassium (mg) | Potassium (% RDA) |
|---|---|---|
| Date (dried) | 695.8 | 20.5 |
| Plantain | 487.0 | 14.3 |
| Jackfruit | 447.9 | 13.2 |
| Durian | 435.9 | 12.8 |
| Banana | 358.1 | 10.5 |
| Cantaloupe | 266.7 | 7.8 |
| Apricot | 258.8 | 7.6 |
| Fig | 231.9 | 6.8 |
| Melon | 228.0 | 6.7 |
| Cherry | 221.7 | 6.5 |
| Pummelo | 215.9 | 6.4 |
| Nectarine | 201.3 | 5.9 |
| Grapes | 191.8 | 5.6 |
| Peach | 190.0 | 5.6 |
| Orange | 168.9 | 5.0 |
| Mango | 167.9 | 4.9 |
| Tangerine | 165.8 | 4.9 |
| Blackberry | 161.8 | 4.8 |
| Plum | 157.6 | 4.6 |
| Strawberry | 153.0 | 4.5 |
| Grapefruit | 142.8 | 4.2 |
| Pear | 115.7 | 3.4 |
| Pineapple | 109.5 | 3.2 |
| Apple | 107.2 | 3.2 |
| Cranberry | 80.0 | 2.4 |
If you grew up on a typical Western diet, there’s a good chance you’ve never even had any of the top fruits on this list.
Below them are bananas, which is the fruit that most people associate with being high in potassium.
Almost all fruits have a significant amount of potassium. However, you’d still have to eat several servings of the top fruits in order to reach the RDA with them alone. In other words, fruits can help meet potassium targets, but likely won’t be anyone’s main source.
Which Fruits Have the Most Potassium?
Dried dates have the most potassium of any fruit per 100 gram serving, but that’s just because of the low water content.
Plantains are the next highest with 487 mg per serving, which is just over 14% of the RDA for an adult male.
Other fruits that have over 10% of the RDA in a 100 gram serving include: Jackfruit, durian, and bananas.
Which Fruits Have the Least Potassium?
Most fruits have a decent amount of potassium, but there are some that have very little.
There are 4 fruits that have less than 4% of the RDA for an adult per 100 gram serving, which are: pears, pineapples, apples, and cranberries.
Do Fruits Have More Potassium Compared to Other Vegetables?
Overall, fruits are a mediocre source of potassium.
They can certainly be one source of potassium in the diet, along with several other vitamins and minerals, but there are dozens of other plant-based sources of potassium that are better than fruits.
Let’s look at the amount of potassium in the very top vegan-friendly sources per 100 grams:
- Hemp seeds – 1200 mg
- Pistachio nuts – 1024 mg
- Pumpkin seeds – 919 mg
- Flaxseed – 811 mg
- Almonds – 733 mg
- Peanuts – 705 mg
- Dates – 696 mg
- Hazelnuts – 680 mg
Dates do make the list, but again, that’s only because they are in a dried form. It’s really hard to eat even a single 100 gram serving of dried dates.
A banana has only about 25-50% of the potassium of any of these top sources. So while bananas are not bad sources of potassium, they are nothing special.
Fruits can be one source of potassium in a healthy diet, but food groups like seeds and nuts have significantly more potassium per serving.
