Which two superfoods are very high in vitamin C?

The two that top every measured list are the Kakadu plum (Terminalia ferdinandiana) from northern Australia and camu camu (Myrciaria dubia) from the Amazon. Kakadu plum takes first place. A 2016 chemical analysis of fruit and leaves collected from trees across northern Australia reported ascorbic acid ranging from 3,050 to 14,020 mg per 100 g of dried fruit. Camu camu comes second, with pulp measured at 2.4 to 3.0 g per 100 g, which is 2,400 to 3,000 mg.

Here is the part most lists leave out. Acerola cherry is the third name, and it is not far behind: a 2018 review puts it at 1,500 to 4,500 mg per 100 g, roughly 50 to 100 times an orange or lemon. At the top of that range, acerola overlaps camu camu. So "the two" is a tidy way of describing three fruits whose ranges run into each other.

For scale, the National Institutes of Health puts a medium orange at about 70 mg and the adult recommended intake at 90 mg for men and 75 mg for women. Any of these three fruits clears a day's requirement in a few grams. If you want the everyday sources instead, our guide to foods high in vitamin C covers what is actually in the supermarket, and how much vitamin C to take per day covers the targets.

"Superfood" is a marketing word, not a nutrition category

Before comparing numbers, it is worth knowing that the category itself is not a scientific one. There is no official or legal definition of a superfood. Since 2007, marketing a product as a superfood has been prohibited in the European Union unless it carries a specific authorised health claim backed by scientific evidence, under Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006.

That has a practical consequence for anyone reading a list. The word signals marketing position, not a measured property, so it stretches to fit whatever is being sold. An orange at roughly 70 mg per fruit and a Kakadu plum at thousands of milligrams per 100 g can appear on the same superfood list without the list ever saying how far apart they are.

None of that makes these fruits unimpressive. A 4.6-fold difference between the weakest and strongest Kakadu plum samples in one 2016 study is still a remarkable amount of vitamin C. It just means the label is doing no work, and the numbers have to.

Why the numbers disagree: dried weight is not fresh fruit

This is where most online figures go wrong. The headline Kakadu plum numbers, including that 3,050 to 14,020 mg range, are dry weight. They describe freeze-dried fruit with the water taken out, which is how the fruit is sold as powder. Fresh fruit is mostly water, so a fresh-weight figure for the same fruit is far lower. Quoting one as though it were the other is the single most common error on this topic.

A more useful number comes from a 2021 study that put Kakadu plum powder through simulated digestion. It estimated that 1 g of the powder contained about 210 mg of ascorbic acid. That is roughly a quarter teaspoon carrying more than twice an adult's 90 mg daily requirement.

Then there is the spread. The same fruit, picked from different trees in different places, varied 4.6-fold in that 2016 analysis. Camu camu shows the same pattern: certified laboratory testing across ripening stages found 1,539 mg per 100 g in green fruit rising to 2,188 mg in ripe fruit, a 42% increase from ripeness alone. A single number for either fruit is an average pretending to be a fact.

What survives the trip from tree to teaspoon

Vitamin C is fragile, and neither of these fruits is sold fresh outside its growing region. What reaches you is powder, and the gap between the fruit on the tree and the pouch on the shelf can run to roughly a quarter of the vitamin C.

Camu camu is the clearest example. Pulp frozen at −18°C lost 23% of its vitamin C within 28 days, falling from 1.57 to 1.21 g per 100 g, and 26% by day 335. That same study also found that fruit grown outside the Amazon basin tested lower than native fruit, which it attributed to soil, humidity and climate.

Kakadu plum holds up better in one respect. In that 2021 simulated-digestion work, total ascorbic acid showed no significant change through digestion, suggesting it was not degraded on the way through. That is a laboratory model rather than a person, so it is a reasonable sign rather than a result.

The commercial side tells its own story: camu camu is priced on measured ascorbic acid content, with the 2025 laboratory work noting that price tracks the number directly. When potency sets the price, the potency varies.

Is superfood vitamin C absorbed better than a supplement?

This is the claim that usually follows a superfood list, and the evidence does not support it. A 2013 review of the animal and human literature found that all steady-state comparative bioavailability studies in humans showed no difference between synthetic and food-derived vitamin C, regardless of the population, design or intervention. A handful of pharmacokinetic studies showed small, short-lived differences the reviewers judged unlikely to matter physiologically.

One trial shows the point well. Thirty-six young non-smoking men took either half a gold kiwifruit daily or a 50 mg vitamin C tablet for six weeks. There were no significant differences in any fluid, cell or tissue sampled — serum, urine, semen, white blood cells or skeletal muscle. The molecule is the same molecule whichever package it arrives in.

What does limit absorption is the size of the dose. The NIH reports that 70% to 90% of vitamin C is absorbed at intakes of 30 to 180 mg a day, falling below 50% above 1 g a day. A superfood powder does nothing about that ceiling, because the ceiling is in your intestine, not in the fruit. Our article on why most of your vitamin C dose is wasted covers the transporter mechanism behind it.

Delivery format is where a measurable difference does show up. A 2025 scoping review screened 321 studies and included 10 that compared liposomal with non-liposomal vitamin C directly. Nine of the 10 found higher bioavailability for the liposomal form, with peak concentrations 1.2 to 5.4 times higher and total exposure 1.3 to 7.2 times higher. That is an absorption finding and nothing more: none of those trials measured whether people ended up healthier, and the complete guide to liposomal vitamin C keeps that distinction in place.

The cautions nobody prints on the pouch

Concentrated vitamin C from fruit carries the same cautions as concentrated vitamin C from anywhere else, plus one of its own. The 2016 Kakadu plum study flagged oxalic acid in the fruit and made a point worth repeating: oxalate is the end-product of ascorbic acid metabolism, so eating fruit with a heightened ascorbic acid content has the potential to raise urinary oxalate. Regular high-oxalate intake can interfere with calcium absorption and contribute to kidney stone formation.

The ceiling applies too. The NIH sets the Tolerable Upper Intake Level at 2,000 mg a day from food and supplements combined, and it does not change because the source is a fruit. At roughly 210 mg per gram of Kakadu plum powder, 5 g is already past 1,000 mg before anything else in your day is counted.

Three groups should speak to a doctor before adding a concentrated vitamin C source: anyone who has had kidney stones or has kidney disease, anyone with haemochromatosis or another iron-overload condition, and anyone taking regular medication. Our article on vitamin C side effects and the upper limit goes through these in detail, and what drink is high in vitamin C covers the liquid versions of the same fruits.

Bio Absorb Liposomal Vitamin C — format over fruit

If the evidence says the fruit a vitamin C molecule came from does not change how well you absorb it, the practical question becomes what does. That is the thinking behind Bio Absorb Nutraceuticals' approach: rather than chasing an exotic source, work on the delivery format, which is the variable those 10 trials actually tested.

Bio Absorb's Liposomal Vitamin C wraps ascorbic acid in a phospholipid layer, the format that the 2025 scoping review assessed. It is made in a GMP-certified facility in Canada, verified corn-free, non-GMO and vegan, and third-party tested every batch. It comes in two formats, and which one suits you comes down to how you like to take vitamin C. The liquid mixes into water or juice and suits anyone who would rather not swallow capsules. The capsules need no refrigeration and travel without fuss.

What we deliberately do not do is print serving figures inside articles like this one. Formulations and pack details change, and an article with a number baked into it goes quietly stale. The product page is always current, so that is where the numbers live.

See current pricing and serving details for the liquid, or the full product specification for the capsules. Both are covered by a money-back guarantee.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which fruit has the most vitamin C in the world?

Kakadu plum, on current measurements. A 2016 analysis of fruit from across northern Australia found 3,050 to 14,020 mg of ascorbic acid per 100 g of dried fruit. Camu camu is second and acerola third, though their ranges overlap enough that the order can shift between studies.

Is camu camu better than acerola for vitamin C?

By concentration, camu camu usually tests higher, at 2,400 to 3,000 mg per 100 g of pulp against acerola's 1,500 to 4,500 mg per 100 g. The ranges cross at the top end, so a strong acerola sample can beat a weak camu camu one. Neither delivers vitamin C your body handles differently.

Can you take too much vitamin C from superfood powder?

Yes. The 2,000 mg upper limit covers food and supplements together, and concentrated powders reach it quickly — Kakadu plum powder has been estimated at around 210 mg per gram. Measure rather than eyeball, and count what you are already getting elsewhere.

Does camu camu powder lose its vitamin C over time?

Camu camu pulp frozen at −18°C lost 23% of its vitamin C in 28 days and 26% by day 335. That was pulp rather than dried powder, and we found no equivalent long-term study on powder, so treat it as a reason to buy small and store it cool and dark rather than as a precise figure.

Is natural vitamin C better absorbed than synthetic vitamin C?

No, on the human evidence. A 2013 review found no difference in any steady-state human study, and a six-week trial in 36 men found kiwifruit and a 50 mg tablet gave the same result in blood, urine, white blood cells and muscle. The bioflavonoids that come with whole fruit are worth having for their own sake, not as an absorption aid.

Do you still need a supplement if you eat vitamin C–rich foods?

Many people do not. The RDA is 90 mg for men and 75 mg for women, which a varied diet can cover. Supplements matter more when intake is consistently short or requirements are raised, which our guide to foods high in vitamin C works through.

Conclusion

Kakadu plum and camu camu are the two superfoods very high in vitamin C, with acerola close enough behind to make "two" a convenience rather than a finding. They are genuinely extraordinary sources — Kakadu plum has been measured at up to 14,020 mg per 100 g dried — but the word "superfood" is doing no scientific work, and the fruit a vitamin C molecule came from does not change how much of it you absorb.

What does change absorption is the dose and the delivery. If that is the part you care about, see current pricing and serving details for Bio Absorb Liposomal Vitamin C.

Research References

Organic acids in Kakadu plum (Terminalia ferdinandiana): The good (ellagic), the bad (oxalic) and the uncertain (ascorbic). Food Research International, Vol. 89, Part 1, pp. 237–244 (2016). Source for the 3,050–14,020 mg/100 g dry weight range and for oxalate as the end-product of ascorbic acid metabolism.
Synthetic or Food-Derived Vitamin C—Are They Equally Bioavailable? Nutrients, Vol. 5, Issue 11, pp. 4284–4304 (2013). Review finding no difference between synthetic and food-derived vitamin C in any steady-state human study.
A Randomized Steady-State Bioavailability Study of Synthetic versus Natural (Kiwifruit-Derived) Vitamin C. Nutrients, Vol. 5, Issue 9, pp. 3684–3695 (2013). Six-week randomised trial in 36 non-smoking males comparing half a gold kiwifruit with a 50 mg tablet.
Do Liposomal Vitamin C Formulations Have Improved Bioavailability? A Scoping Review Identifying Future Research Directions. Basic & Clinical Pharmacology & Toxicology, Vol. 137, Issue 1 (2025). Screened 321 studies and included 10; nine showed higher bioavailability, with Cmax 1.2–5.4× and AUC 1.3–7.2× higher.
Nutritional composition and vitamin C stability in stored camu-camu (Myrciaria dubia) pulp. Archivos Latinoamericanos de Nutrición, Vol. 50, Issue 4, pp. 405–408 (2000). Source for 2.4–3.0 g per 100 g of pulp and the 23% and 26% storage losses.
Acerola, an untapped functional superfruit: a review on latest frontiers. Journal of Food Science and Technology, Vol. 55, Issue 9, pp. 3373–3384 (2018). Source for acerola at 1,500–4,500 mg per 100 g, roughly 50–100 times an orange or lemon.
In vitro Bioaccessibility and Intestinal Absorption of Selected Bioactive Compounds in Terminalia ferdinandiana. Frontiers in Nutrition, Vol. 8, Article 818195 (2021). Source for roughly 210 mg of ascorbic acid per gram of Kakadu plum powder and for its stability through simulated digestion.
Automated measurement of ascorbic acid levels in camu-camu using Vision Transformer. Frontiers in Plant Science, Vol. 16 (2025). Certified laboratory reference values across four ripening stages, from 1,539 mg to 2,188 mg per 100 g.
Vitamin C: Fact Sheet for Health Professionals. National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements. Source for 70–90% absorption at 30–180 mg/day, below 50% above 1 g/day, the adult RDAs and the 2,000 mg Tolerable Upper Intake Level.
EFSA role in the assessment of health claims and novel foods, including nutrient sources. European Food Safety Authority, published by the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR). States that there is no official or legal definition of a superfood and sets out the EU restriction under Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006.

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.

Which two superfoods are very high in vitamin C?

Which two superfoods are very high in vitamin C?

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