✦ Excellent potassium ✦ Vitamin B6 contributor ✦ Resistant starch (when green) ✦ Quick natural energy

Bananas are an iconic source of potassium, providing a useful dose alongside vitamin B6, manganese, and vitamin C. Their carbohydrate composition shifts as they ripen — green bananas contain resistant starch (a prebiotic fibre) which converts to free sugars as the fruit yellows and softens.

🍳
Preparation note

Less ripe (green-tipped) bananas have more resistant starch and a lower glycaemic impact; very ripe bananas are sweeter and more easily digested but spike blood sugar faster.

Sources: NHS · CoFID 2021

Macronutrients per 100g

81.0
kcal
Energy
1.20
g
Protein
20.3
g
Carbs
1.40
g
Fibre
0.10
g
Fat
18.1
g
Sugars
0.10
g
Saturates
0.00
g
Salt

How to read GI & GL

GI (Glycemic Index) rates how fast the carbohydrates in a food raise blood glucose compared to pure glucose (= 100). Low GI ≤ 55 means a slow, steady rise. But GI says nothing about how much carbohydrate you're actually eating.

GL (Glycemic Load) fixes that. It multiplies GI by the actual grams of carbohydrate per typical serving: GL = GI × carbs per serving ÷ 100. This makes it the more useful number for real-world blood sugar management.

Why they can disagree — a food with low GI can still carry a high GL if the serving is large and carb-dense. Conversely, watermelon has a high GI (72) but a low GL (4) because a normal portion contains very few carbs. Always read both together.

Low GL ≤ 10 Modest total glucose impact per serving.
Medium GL 11–19 Moderate impact — manageable for most.
High GL ≥ 20 Significant carb load per serving. Consider a smaller portion.

Source: Atkinson et al., International Tables of GI & GL Values 2021, Am J Clin Nutr.

Glycemic Index & Load

53
GI Score
🟢 Low GI
12
GL / Serving
Medium Load

Low GI food — causes a slow, steady rise in blood sugar. Ideal for sustained energy, blood glucose control, and reducing insulin demand.

Glycemic Load (GL = GI × carbs ÷ 100) accounts for portion size. A moderate GL — portion size matters here.

Vitamins & Minerals

Nutrient Per 100g % Daily Value* Level
Potassium 330 mg 17%
Chloride 109 mg 14%
Magnesium 27.0 mg 7%
Phosphorus 23.0 mg 3%
Folate 14.0 µg 7%
Vitamin C 9.00 mg 11%
Calcium 6.00 mg 1%
Vitamin A (RE) 1.67 µg 0%
Niacin (B3) 0.700 mg 4%
Manganese 0.360 mg 18%
Pantothenic Acid (B5) 0.350 mg 6%
Vitamin B6 0.310 mg 22%
Iron 0.270 mg 2%
Zinc 0.200 mg 2%
Vitamin E (alpha-TE) 0.160 mg 1%
Thiamin (B1) 0.150 mg 14%
Copper 0.100 mg 10%
Vitamin K 0.060 µg 0%
Riboflavin (B2) 0.040 mg 3%
Choline 0.000 mg —
Selenium 0.000 µg 0%
Chromium N/A No data
Betaine 0.000 mg —
Vitamin D 0.000 µg 0%
Vitamin B12 0.000 µg 0%
Molybdenum 0.000 µg 0%
Iodine 3.00 µg 2%
Monounsaturated fat 0.000 g —
Polyunsaturated fat (PUFA) 0.000 g —
Trans fat 0.000 g —
Glucose (dextrose) 7.90 g —
Fructose 7.50 g —
Sucrose 2.70 g —
Maltose 0.000 g —
Cholesterol 0.000 mg —
Aspartic acid 0.120 g —
Glutamic acid 0.120 g —
Leucine 0.072 g —
Lysine 0.060 g —
Arginine 0.060 g —
Valine 0.060 g —
Serine 0.048 g —
Phenylalanine 0.048 g —
Alanine 0.048 g —
Isoleucine 0.047 g —
Threonine 0.040 g —
Proline 0.036 g —
Glycine 0.036 g —
Tyrosine 0.030 g —
Histidine 0.022 g —
Methionine 0.020 g —
Tryptophan 0.012 g —
Cysteine 0.010 g —
Sitostanol 0.000 mg —
Stigmasterol 0.000 mg —
β-Sitosterol 0.000 mg —
Campestanol 0.000 mg —
Plant stanols (total) 0.000 mg —
Campesterol 0.000 mg —
Plant sterols (total) 0.000 mg —
Beta-carotene 20.0 µg —
Lycopene 4.00 µg —
Lutein + Zeaxanthin 0.000 µg —
Omega-6 (Linoleic acid) 0.046 g —
Omega-3 (Alpha-linolenic acid) 0.027 g —
Omega-6 (GLA) 0.000 g —
Omega-3 (SDA) 0.000 g —

* % Daily Value is the proportion of an adult EU Nutrient Reference Value (NRV) supplied by 100g of this food. NRVs are the labelling standard — the same basis as the “%RI” figures printed on food packaging — so these percentages are directly comparable with a shop label. They are a single adult figure and do not vary by age or sex, which is why they sometimes differ from UK dietary reference values: the NRV for vitamin C is 80mg where the UK RNI is 40mg. When Nutriofia assesses your own intake in the reports and trackers, it uses the age- and sex-specific UK values instead.

Fibre is shown without a percentage. Our fibre values use the UK Englyst NSP method, while the published 30g daily goal is an AOAC figure — the two are measured differently and a single percentage would mislead. How we source and normalise our data →

Sources: NHS; CoFID 2021
Fruits Tropical & Exotic Phytochemical data available 🇬🇧 CoFID 2021