Bananas Contain Fructose and Glucose

A medium size banana contains approximately approx 5.72 g of fructose and approx 5.88 g of glucose. (different websites will list different numbers)

What is important is that combined with the Resistant Starch of the banana, the Fructose and Glucose give you a real easy entry into your day without loading up on sugar and this has the knock on affect of helping you lose weight (if you are exercising) or maintain your current weight.

The sugar content of bananas changes as they ripen in a process controlled by a plant hormone known as ethylene.

Green bananas are almost all starch and have low sugar content yet as the banana ripens the starch content decreases and sucrose appears.

Next, fructose and glucose appear and increase and after approx 28 days of ripening the sucrose begins to decline.

The sugar content in over-ripe bananas can be dramatically higher than in bananas that are half green or just ripe.

Changing Sugar Content

At harvest, when bananas are green and unripe, the fruits are 20 percent starch and 1 percent sugar.

As the bananas ripen over 21 to 28 days, the starch turns into several types of sugars.

Sucrose forms first but remains at a constant amount as fructose and glucose content increases.

So a fully ripe banana, which is completely yellow and just starting to show a few brown spots is around 14 percent fructose and 20 percent glucose and 66 percent sucrose, note researchers from a study published in "Food Chemistry" in May 2005.

As you can see, bananas will not overload you with sugar but they do give you the ability to transform your morning into something enjoyable where you are not constantly thinking of food.

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