Is banana rich in vitamin C?

It would take about seven bananas to match the vitamin C in a single medium orange.

So is banana rich in vitamin C? By the rules food labels follow, no. A medium banana carries about 10mg, roughly 11% of the Daily Value, and “rich in” starts at 20%.

Bananas are rich in one vitamin, just not this one. Below: how a banana stacks up against four everyday fruits, why variety can move its vitamin C nearly threefold, and how to build a day that reaches your target with a banana still in it.

Table of Contents

1. Is Banana Rich in Vitamin C? The Short Answer
2. How Bananas Compare With Other Fruits
3. Variety and Ripeness Change the Number
4. What Bananas Are Actually Rich In
5. Building a Vitamin C Day Around a Banana
6. When Food Alone Falls Short
7. A Steady Baseline When the Fruit Bowl Runs Low
8. Frequently Asked Questions
9. Conclusion
10. Research References

1. Is Banana Rich in Vitamin C? The Short Answer

USDA data puts raw banana at 8.7mg of vitamin C per 100g, with a medium banana weighing about 118g. That works out to roughly 10mg per banana. Against the 90mg Daily Value and the adult RDAs of 90mg for men and 75mg for women, a banana covers about 11% to 14% of what you need.

The word “rich” has a legal meaning on a food label. Under FDA rules, “high,” “rich in” or “excellent source of” requires at least 20% of the Daily Value per serving, while 10% to 19% earns the lesser “good source.” A medium banana lands just inside that lower band. The NIH uses the same line, describing foods with 20% or more of the Daily Value as high sources while noting that lower-scoring foods still contribute to a healthy diet.

That 10mg isn’t nothing. The NIH notes that signs of scurvy can appear when intake stays below about 10mg a day for many weeks, so a banana a day supplies roughly the floor that holds scurvy off — and about a ninth of an adult man’s RDA. The space between those two levels is where milder shortfalls live, covered in the signs of vitamin C deficiency.

2. How Bananas Compare With Other Fruits

Set a banana’s 10mg beside the fruits in the NIH’s vitamin C table and the gap is wide. Per serving, the NIH lists these values:

• Orange, 1 medium: 70mg, about seven times a banana
• Kiwifruit, 1 medium: 64mg
• Strawberries, sliced, ½ cup: 49mg
• Cantaloupe, ½ cup: 29mg

Calories sharpen the picture. A medium banana carries 105 calories, so reaching the 75mg RDA for women from bananas alone would take about seven of them, and the 90mg RDA for men nearly nine. That is somewhere around 770 to 920 calories of banana to do what one orange mostly does on its own.

Even among tropical fruit, bananas sit low. A Hawaii study that analysed both fruits measured papaya at 51.2mg of vitamin C per 100g, four to eleven times the bananas tested in the same study. If a tropical fruit is what you reach for, papaya does the vitamin C work a banana doesn’t.

3. Variety and Ripeness Change the Number

“Banana” covers many varieties, and they are not equal. When researchers analysed cultivars grown across Hawaii, Dwarf Brazilian (“apple”) bananas carried almost three times the vitamin C of Williams fruit, a Cavendish variety like most supermarket bananas:

• Apple (Dwarf Brazilian) bananas: 12.7mg per 100g
• Williams (Cavendish type): 4.5mg per 100g, in the same study
• USDA average for raw banana: 8.7mg per 100g
• Dehydrated banana: 7.0mg per 100g

Scaled to a 118g banana, that range runs from about 5mg for a Williams-type fruit to about 15mg for an apple banana. Even the top of the range reaches only about 17% of the Daily Value, still short of the 20% line for “rich in”.

Ripeness moves the number too, though less. In a 2024 study of Cavendish bananas, vitamin C rose by about a quarter between the green and fully ripe stages, then fell significantly once the fruit was overripe. Drying doesn’t help either: dehydrated banana still lists below fresh at 7.0mg per 100g, even though removing the water concentrates the fruit. For the most vitamin C per banana, eat it ripe but before it turns brown and soft.

4. What Bananas Are Actually Rich In

Run the banana through the same 20% test for a different vitamin and it passes. The NIH lists a medium banana at 0.4mg of vitamin B6, or 25% of the Daily Value, the same as a cup of boiled potatoes. By the yardstick food labels use, that makes a banana rich in vitamin B6, just not in vitamin C.

B6 is a working vitamin. The NIH describes it as involved in more than 100 enzyme reactions, mostly concerned with protein metabolism. So the banana’s healthy reputation is earned. It has simply been credited to the wrong vitamin.

That matters because a banana can feel like the vitamin C box ticked. At about 10mg, it covers roughly a ninth of the 90mg RDA for adult men. Count it as a fruit serving and a B6 source, and look elsewhere on the plate for vitamin C.

5. Building a Vitamin C Day Around a Banana

You don’t have to give up bananas to reach your target. The NIH notes that five varied servings of fruits and vegetables a day can provide more than 200mg of vitamin C, more than double the adult RDA. A banana can be one of those five; it just needs a partner that does the heavy lifting. Using the NIH’s per-serving values, a banana plus:

• ½ cup of sliced strawberries: about 59mg
• 1 medium kiwifruit: about 74mg, essentially the 75mg RDA for women
• ¾ cup of orange juice: about 103mg, past the 90mg RDA for men
• ½ cup of raw red pepper at lunch: about 105mg

Keep the partner raw where you can. Vitamin C breaks down with heat and leaches into cooking water, which is why the NIH notes that steaming or microwaving may lessen cooking losses. All four pairings above are usually eaten raw, and our guide to foods high in vitamin C covers how much storage and cooking take from the rest.

How much is enough? According to the NIH, cells appear saturated at intakes of 100mg a day or more, and plasma levels rise only marginally beyond 200mg. People who smoke need an extra 35mg a day. Our breakdown of how much vitamin C to take per day walks through where your own number sits.

6. When Food Alone Falls Short

Plans like these work on paper; the harder part is every day. CDC surveillance found that in 2019, 12.3% of US adults met fruit intake recommendations and 10.0% met vegetable recommendations. Blood data agrees: national survey samples from 2003–2006 showed 41.8% of US adults with insufficient plasma vitamin C, and when the CDC measured again in 2017–2018, status was essentially unchanged, with deficiency at about 7% in both periods.

At the amounts food supplies, absorption isn’t the problem. The NIH reports that 70% to 90% of vitamin C is absorbed at intakes of 30–180mg a day, falling below 50% above 1g a day. A banana’s shortfall is quantity. Absorption becomes the limit at supplement doses, a mechanism covered in why most of your vitamin C dose is wasted.

Liposomal delivery is one answer to that ceiling, and it is the format Bio Absorb Nutraceuticals uses. A 2025 scoping review found 1.3–7.2× higher AUC than non-liposomal forms in nine of ten trials, though whether that improves clinical outcomes in people who are already replete hasn’t been established. Our complete guide to liposomal vitamin C covers that evidence. The tolerable upper intake level is 2,000mg a day for adults, and anyone with kidney disease, haemochromatosis or a regular medication should speak with a physician before supplementing.

7. A Steady Baseline When the Fruit Bowl Runs Low

A banana-and-kiwi breakfast gets you to roughly 74mg without trying. A supplement is for the weeks when the fruit bowl empties, and which one you choose matters more than most labels admit. Almost all commercial ascorbic acid is derived from corn, and few products say so, which is a real problem if you react to corn. Our guide to why the source of ascorbic acid matters explains how to check. Bio Absorb Nutraceuticals built its vitamin C around verified corn-free sourcing.

The line comes in two formats with one formulation and one allergen profile. The Liposomal Vitamin C Liquid 1000mg (Corn-Free) has a natural orange flavour and mixes with water or juice, including the ¾ cup of orange juice from the pairing above. The Liposomal Vitamin C Capsules 1000mg (Corn-Free) need no refrigeration, have no taste and travel well. Both use phospholipid encapsulation and are non-GMO, gluten-free, nut-free, dairy-free and vegan.

Both are made in a GMP-certified facility in Canada, are non-irradiated and are third-party tested every batch, with a 100% money-back guarantee. None of that replaces the fruit: a banana still brings a quarter of your daily B6, and produce brings fibre no capsule contains. A supplement is the steady floor underneath a diet that varies. See current pricing and serving details.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much vitamin C is in one banana?

A medium banana (about 118g) contains roughly 10mg of vitamin C, based on USDA’s value of 8.7mg per 100g. A small banana has a little less and a large one a little more, but none comes close to the 75–90mg adult RDA.

Do bananas have more vitamin C than oranges?

No. A medium orange provides 70mg, about seven times a medium banana. A kiwifruit (64mg) and half a cup of strawberries (49mg) also outpace a banana several times over.

Does a ripe banana have more vitamin C than a green one?

Slightly. In one study of Cavendish bananas, vitamin C rose by about a quarter from green to fully ripe, then dropped significantly once the fruit was overripe. That change is small next to the roughly sevenfold gap between a banana and an orange.

Which banana variety has the most vitamin C?

Of the varieties compared in a Hawaii study, apple (Dwarf Brazilian) bananas had the most, at 12.7mg per 100g, almost three times the Williams Cavendish type. Even so, a medium apple banana stays under the 20% Daily Value line for “rich in.”

If not vitamin C, what is a banana rich in?

Vitamin B6. One medium banana supplies 0.4mg, or 25% of the Daily Value, which clears the 20% threshold that its vitamin C misses.

Can I get enough vitamin C without a supplement?

Many people can: five varied servings of fruits and vegetables can supply more than 200mg a day. The catch is consistency, since 12.3% of US adults met fruit recommendations in 2019. A supplement makes most sense for the days your diet falls short.

Conclusion

Is banana rich in vitamin C? Not by the label’s definition: about 10mg per medium banana is roughly 11% of the Daily Value, which makes it a good fruit and a modest vitamin C source. Pair it with a kiwi, strawberries or orange juice and your target comes easily; for the days it doesn’t, Bio Absorb’s verified corn-free Liposomal Vitamin C comes as a liquid or capsules. See current pricing and serving details.

Research References

1. Ascorbic acid, vitamin A, and mineral composition of banana (Musa sp.) and papaya (Carica papaya) cultivars grown in Hawaii. Journal of Food Composition and Analysis, Vol. 19 (2006), pp. 434–445. Found Dwarf Brazilian (“apple”) bananas at 12.7mg of vitamin C per 100g against 4.5mg for Williams fruit, and papaya at 51.2mg per 100g.
2. Changes in Nutrient Content and Physicochemical Properties of Cavendish Bananas var. Pei Chiao during Ripening. Horticulturae, Vol. 10, Issue 4, Article 384 (2024). Results (Section 3.6, Table 4) and Conclusions report a slight rise in vitamin C from ripening stage 1 to stage 8, then a significant fall at the overripe stage 9; the abstract misstates the direction.
3. Insufficient Vitamin C Levels among Adults in the United States: Results from the NHANES Surveys, 2003–2006. Nutrients, Vol. 13, Issue 11, Article 3910 (2021). Found 41.8% of US adults with insufficient plasma vitamin C.
4. Vitamin C Status of US Adults Assessed as Part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Remained Unchanged between 2003–2006 and 2017–2018. The Journal of Applied Laboratory Medicine, Vol. 8, Issue 2 (2023), pp. 272–284. CDC analysis finding vitamin C status, and deficiency of about 7%, essentially unchanged between the two survey periods.
5. Do Liposomal Vitamin C Formulations Have Improved Bioavailability? A Scoping Review Identifying Future Research Directions. Basic & Clinical Pharmacology & Toxicology, Vol. 137, Issue 1, Article e70067 (2025). Nine of ten included studies found higher bioavailability for liposomal vitamin C (1.3–7.2-fold AUC); clinical outcome data are still lacking.
6. Adults Meeting Fruit and Vegetable Intake Recommendations — United States, 2019. MMWR Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Vol. 71, No. 1 (2022), pp. 1–9. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2019, 12.3% of US adults met fruit and 10.0% met vegetable intake recommendations.
7. Vitamin C — Fact Sheet for Health Professionals. National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements (2025). Source for the RDAs, the 35mg smoker increment, the 90mg Daily Value, food values, the five-servings estimate, absorption rates, cell saturation, the scurvy threshold and the 2,000mg upper limit.
8. Vitamin B6 — Fact Sheet for Health Professionals. National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements (2023). Lists a medium banana at 0.4mg of vitamin B6, 25% of the Daily Value, and describes B6’s role in more than 100 enzyme reactions.
9. Bananas, raw (SR Legacy, FDC ID 173944). U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, FoodData Central (2019). Source for 8.7mg of vitamin C per 100g, the 118g medium banana and 105 calories per medium banana.
10. USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 28: Vitamin C, total ascorbic acid, ordered by food name. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (2015), hosted by the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. Lists dehydrated banana at 7.0mg of vitamin C per 100g.
11. 21 CFR 101.54 — Nutrient content claims for “good source,” “high,” “more,” and “high potency.” U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (current). Defines “high,” “rich in” and “excellent source of” as 20% or more of the Daily Value per serving, and “good source” as 10% to 19%.

About the Author

David Kimbell is a health writer, digital entrepreneur and former aerospace engineer, based in Ottawa, Canada. He loves translating complex science into clear, actionable guidance for consumers seeking evidence-based solutions.

---

Important Disclaimers

Medical Disclaimer: This article provides educational information only and is not intended as medical advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare provider before starting any new supplement, especially if you have existing health conditions, take medications, or are pregnant or nursing.

FDA/Health Canada Statement: These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration or Health Canada. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.