Antioxidants are a variety of chemicals (eg. vitamins E, C, flavonoids ) with a capcity to scavenge free radicals and other reactive oxygen species. Antioxidants are produced in the body and obtained from foods. Below is a list of fruits, vegetables, nuts and other food stuffs with estimates of their total antioxidant capacity. In each food catagory, they are ordered from the highest to the lowest total antioxidant activity.
Total antioxidant capacity was based on ORAC assays. The fruits, nuts, rice bran and vegetables (except for Russet potato, broccoli, carrot and tomato which were in their cooked form) were freeze-dried before analysis. For detailed information on the research methodology used to estimate antioxidant content, find the full citation of the source article at the bottom of this page.
| Antioxidant sources | Total antioxidant capacity (µmol TE/g) |
| Fruits | |
| Plum | 62.4 |
| Blueberry | 62.2 |
| Rasperry | 49.3 |
| Strawberry | 35.8 |
| Avocado | 19.3 |
| Navel orange | 18.1 |
| Grapefruit | 15.5 |
| Kiwi | 9.2 |
| Cantaloupe | 3.1 |
| Honeydew | 2.4 |
| Watermelon | 1.4 |
| Vegetables | |
| Broccoli | 15.9 |
| Potato, Russet | 13.2 |
| Carrot | 12.2 |
| Radish | 9.5 |
| Celery | 5.7 |
| Lettuce, Iceberg | 4.5 |
| Baby carrot | 4.4 |
| Tomato | 3.4 |
| Nuts | |
| Pecan | 179 |
| Pistachio | 79.8 |
| Almond | 44.5 |
| Cashew | 20 |
| Macadamia | 17 |
| Other food stuffs | |
| Rice bran | 242.9 |
| Prune | 85.8 |
| Date | 39 |
| Raisin | 30.4 |
More lists of food sources high in antioxidants :
Antioxidant content in vegetables
Antioxidant content in fruits -I
Antioxidant content in Fruits - II
Antioxidant content in black and green tea, wine, coffee
Antioxidant content in dark chocolate and other cocoa products
Antioxidant content in cereals grains
Antioxidant content in Breakfast cereals
Table adapted from: Xianli Wu, Liwei Gu, Joanne Holden, David B. Haytowitz, Susan E. Gebhardt, Gary Beecher and R.L.Ronald L. Prior. 2004. Development of a database for total antioxidant capacity in foods: a preliminary study. Journal of Food Composition and Analysis, Vol 17: 3-4 , 407-422.
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