Rankings and source guides that compare foods using a clear nutritional, culinary or quality criterion.
Among commonly eaten fresh fruits, grapes and fresh figs are around 16 g of sugars per 100 g, pomegranate and mango around 13–14 g, sweet cherries around 13 g, and bananas around 12 g. Dried fruit is a separate category because removing water greatly concentrates sugar.
Bananas are a useful potassium source, but they do not top the list. Per 100 grams, avocado provides about 485 mg, guava about 417 mg, and banana about 358 mg; dried fruit can be much more concentrated because much of its water has been removed.
Orange is a good vitamin C source, but it is not the highest. Approximate references per 100 g put guava around 228 mg, black currants around 180 mg, green kiwi near 90 mg, papaya about 60 mg, strawberries about 59 mg and orange around 50 mg. Variety, ripeness and storage can shift the actual amount.
The lowest-calorie fresh fruits are generally those with the most water and very little fat. Reference values per 100 g include lemon ~29 calories, watermelon and lime 30, strawberries 32, cantaloupe 34, peach 39, pink/red grapefruit 42 and blackberries 43. Per-100-g figures compare energy density; realistic serving sizes still change how many calories you eat.
For high-temperature cooking, oils rich in oleic acid offer some of the best combinations of oxidative stability and practical performance. Olive oil contains roughly 55–83% oleic acid and high-oleic sunflower about 75–91%; both resist oxidation better than highly polyunsaturated oils such as conventional sunflower. Smoke point matters, but it is not a complete stability ranking.
Among common fresh fruits, avocado is an outlier at only about 0.7 g total sugar per 100 g. Other low-sugar examples include lime (~1.7 g), lemon (~2.5 g), raspberries (4.4 g), blackberries (4.9 g), strawberries (4.9 g), watermelon (6.2 g) and pink/red grapefruit (6.9 g). Per-100-g rankings compare concentration; serving size and total nutrition still matter.
Among comparable cooked and drained vegetables, artichoke provides about 5.7 g fiber per 100 g, collard greens about 4.0 g, parsnips 3.6 g, broccoli 3.3 g and cooked carrots around 3.0 g. Those gaps are useful, but the amount you actually eat can matter more than a small difference in rank.
Among common fresh fruits, guava provides about 2.6 g protein per 100 g, passion fruit about 2.2 g and avocado about 2.0 g. Those are high within the fruit category but low compared with beans, dairy, eggs, fish or meat, so fruit usually adds protein rather than serving as the main source.
Roquefort, Parmesan and feta are among the most sodium-dense cheeses. USDA references put Roquefort and grated Parmesan near 1,800 mg sodium per 100 g, while some mozzarella and Swiss cheeses are far lower. Actual serving size and the specific brand determine how much sodium reaches the plate.
There is no permanent category winner because formulas change, but current U.S. examples show the trade-off clearly: Silk Unsweet Almondmilk has 30 calories and 0 g sugar per cup, Oatly Unsweetened Oatmilk has 40 calories per cup, and Silk Unsweet Soymilk has 80 calories but 8 g protein and less than 1 g sugar. Lowest calorie and most nutritionally similar to milk are different questions.
The highest-protein plant meat alternatives are usually TVP, seitan, tempeh, firm tofu and some formulated burgers. Normal portions of several provide roughly 17–20 g protein, while young jackfruit has only about 2–2.6 g/100 g. TVP looks exceptionally high per 100 g because it is measured dry before absorbing water.
No single seed wins every mineral. Per 30 g, hulled hemp provides about 210 mg magnesium and pumpkin seeds about 150 mg. For calcium, whole sesame stands out at roughly 293 mg and chia at 189 mg. Whole sesame also leads iron at about 4.4 mg per 30 g. Hull removal and processing can dramatically change sesame calcium.