Low Glycemic Fruits: GI Values From the International Tables

Low glycemic fruits are fruits with a low glycemic index (GI), and the international GI tables put the low cut-off at 55 or less on the glucose scale. This list uses only those tables: the 2008 edition compiled by Atkinson, Foster-Powell and Brand-Miller at the University of Sydney, which list GI values from 205 studies. In the tables’ summary of common foods, raw apple averages a GI of 36 and raw watermelon 76. Below you will find a low glycemic fruits list with every value traced to its table, plus the reasons the same fruit can score differently.

Peptide Labs does not sell fruit or fruit products. This article is general nutrition information, not medical advice.

What the GI number means

In the international tables, the GI compares the glucose response after eating a carbohydrate food with the response after a reference food. In the international tables, glucose itself is the reference and is set at 100. Some laboratories used white bread instead, so the authors convert between the two scales with a factor of 100/70 or 70/100 and recommend the glucose scale for final reporting. Every GI in this guide is on the glucose scale, as the authors recommend.

The footnotes to the tables’ appendix describe the arithmetic: the GI is the area under the glucose response curve after the test food divided by the area after the reference food, measured over a set period such as two hours. In each test the two portions carry the same amount of carbohydrate; in several of the fruit tests listed in the tables, that amount was 25 grams.

The authors classify foods with a GI of 55 or less on the glucose reference scale as low and foods at 70 or greater as high, and they found that most varieties of fruits are still classified as low-GI foods. The paper does not give a separate name to values between the two cut-offs, so the tables below simply mark them as between the cut-offs.

Low glycemic fruits in the international tables

The first table lists raw fruits at or under the low cut-off. Rows marked as the summary table come from the paper’s own table of 62 common foods, where each fruit value is an average of studies by different laboratories. Rows marked Table A1 come from the online appendix, which holds single tests in volunteers with normal glucose tolerance. This guide leaves canned, dried and brand-name products out of the table, and rows run from the lowest GI to the highest.

Several fruits in this list have their own guides on our site: oranges, apricots, apples, strawberries, dates, bananas, mangoes and blueberries. Dates score low in the summary table; GI and sugar content per serving are different measures, and our low sugar fruits guide covers sugar per serving.

Fruits above the low cut-off

These raw fruits scored above 55 in the tables. Watermelon is the only fruit in the summary table that averages 70 or more.

Guides for these fruits: papaya, kiwi, pineapple, grapes, cherries, cantaloupe and watermelon.

More low gi fruits from the tables' second list

The tables keep a second list, Table A2, for values the authors judged less precise: mainly tests in people with impaired glucose metabolism, plus studies with five or fewer volunteers or very variable results. The authors say Table A1 should be preferred and that Table A2 may be helpful when no other data exist. Several common fruits appear only in Table A2, and their values spread widely.

Raw plum tested at a GI of 24 in Canada and 53 in Italy, and raw peach at 28 and 56, in the same second list, Table A2. See our grapefruit, pears, plums and peaches guides for more on each fruit.

Why the same fruit gets different GI values

Banana shows the spread most clearly. In Table A1 it tested at a GI of 47 in Australia, 62 in Canada and 70 in South Africa. In Table A2, an under-ripe banana tested at 30 in Denmark and an over-ripe one at 52, while United States tests listed slightly under-ripe banana at 42, ripe banana at 51 and over-ripe banana at 48, so the tables show no tidy ripeness pattern either.

Variety matters too: five date varieties from the United Arab Emirates in Table A1 ranged from a GI of 31 to 50. The authors add that many foods have been tested only once in ten or fewer people and that caution is needed, so read one test as a rough guide rather than a fixed property of a fruit.

Canned, dried and juiced fruit

• Canned: in Table A1, peaches canned in natural juice average a GI of 40 across three studies, while two peach samples canned in heavy syrup tested at 58 and 64. The summary table lists peaches, canned, at 43.
• Dried: in Table A1, apricots in dried form average a GI of 31 across three studies, and dried peach tested at 35, while raisins from Canada tested at 64 and sultanas average 57. Our raisins and prunes guides cover dried fruit nutrition.
• Juice: the summary table lists apple juice at a GI of 41 and orange juice at 50.

GI is one number among several

The authors write that the relevance of dietary GI is debated and that many health professionals still consider it complex and too variable for clinical practice. The authors also say the GI should not be used in isolation, and that the energy density and macronutrient profile of foods should be considered. The tables pair each GI with a glycemic load, the GI multiplied by the available carbohydrate in a serving and divided by 100, which our wider guide explains. For other ways to compare fruit, see our high fiber fruits, low calorie fruits and fructose food list guides, and our flavonoid food list for a different measure entirely. Low glycemic index fruits are simply the ones that tested at 55 or under in the tables; the label says nothing else about a fruit.

Frequently Asked Questions

Questions about a label? Contact us or read our Buyer’s Guide. GI values from the tables are research data, not an eating plan: if a clinician or dietitian has given you eating advice, follow it, and ask a healthcare provider before starting a supplement, especially if you take medicines. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Last reviewed October 2026.

Related guides: Foods High in Flavonoids: USDA Database Values by Subclass, Low Glycemic Foods: Glycemic Index Chart and Glycemic Load Explained, Low Sugar Fruits: USDA Sugar per Serving, From Lowest to Highest, Cherries Benefits: USDA Cherry Nutrition, Sweet vs Tart and Pits.