✦ Starchy energy ✦ Potassium source ✦ Vitamin B6 ✦ Vitamin C

Plantain is a starchy cooking banana that supplies carbohydrate energy, potassium, vitamin B6, vitamin C, and beta-carotene. Green (unripe) plantain is starchier with more resistant starch, while ripe plantain is sweeter and easier to digest.

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Preparation note

Always cook before eating; green plantain is too starchy to enjoy raw.

Sources: CoFID 2021

Macronutrients per 100g

117
kcal
Energy
1.10
g
Protein
29.4
g
Carbs
1.30
g
Fibre
0.30
g
Fat
5.70
g
Sugars
0.10
g
Saturates
0.01
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

40
GI Score
🟢 Low GI
8
GL / Serving
Low 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 low GL means this food has minimal real-world blood sugar impact.

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

Vitamins & Minerals

Nutrient Per 100g % Daily Value* Level
Potassium 500 mg 25%
Chloride 80.0 mg 10%
Vitamin A (RE) 60.0 µg 9%
Magnesium 37.0 mg 10%
Phosphorus 36.0 mg 5%
Folate 22.0 µg 11%
Vitamin C 15.0 mg 19%
Calcium 9.00 mg 1%
Selenium 2.00 µg 4%
Niacin equivalents (NE) 0.900 mg 6%
Niacin (B3) 0.700 mg 4%
Iron 0.500 mg 4%
Vitamin B6 0.300 mg 21%
Pantothenic Acid (B5) 0.260 mg 4%
Vitamin E (alpha-TE) 0.200 mg 2%
Zinc 0.100 mg 1%
Thiamin (B1) 0.100 mg 9%
Copper 0.080 mg 8%
Riboflavin (B2) 0.050 mg 4%
Vitamin B12 0.000 µg 0%
Vitamin D 0.000 µg 0%
Polyunsaturated fat (PUFA) 0.100 g —
Trans fat 0.000 g —
Sucrose 4.00 g —
Fructose 0.900 g —
Glucose (dextrose) 0.800 g —
Maltose 0.000 g —
Cholesterol 0.000 mg —
Beta-carotene 360 µg —
Retinol (vitamin A) 0.000 µg 0%

* % 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: CoFID 2021
Vegetables Tubers & Starchy Phytochemical data available 🇬🇧 CoFID 2021 · 13-323