Both sweet and sour cherries come canned, packed in water, light syrup or heavy syrup. Canned cherries in water or light syrup contain less sugar and fewer calories than those packed in heavy syrup. In some cases, canned cherries offer more nutrients than fresh cherries. Read labels carefully to determine nutrition content, which varies widely based on processing methods and the type of cherries used. Use either sweet or sour cherries for baking, depending on the recipe and your preferences.
Calories, Sugar and Fiber
On average, syrup-packed canned cherries have at least 100 more calories per cup than fresh or water-packed cherries. Fresh and water-packed cherries average 93 calories per cup, while cherries packed in heavy syrup contain about 210 calories. Fresh and water-packed canned cherries have fewer than 20 g sugar, while canned cherries in heavy syrup have 50 g sugar per cup. All are high in fiber, offering between 11 and 15 percent of the daily value, or DV, for dietary fiber.
Vitamins
Cherries offer vitamins A and C. Each one-cup serving of canned sour cherries contributes 37 percent of the DV for vitamin A and 9 percent of the DV for vitamin C. Canned sweet cherries provide 8 percent DV for vitamin A and 15 percent DV for vitamin C. Both sweet and sour canned cherries also provide at least 2 percent of the DV for vitamins E and K, as well as most of the B vitamins, except B-12.
Minerals
Canned cherries provide 7 to 10 percent DV for potassium. With almost 20 percent DV for iron, canned sour cherries contribute about four times the iron as canned sweet cherries. Canned sweet cherries have 18 percent of the DV for copper, compared with the 9 percent DV for copper offered by sour cherries. Both types of canned cherries are also good sources of calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and manganese.
Comparisons With Fresh Cherries
Sweet cherries, which are more likely to be eaten fresh than sour cherries are, beat out canned cherries in some nutrition categories, although not all. Fresh cherries have more vitamin C than canned cherries, and are lower in calories and sugar than the syrup-packed canned varieties. But in some cases, the varieties used for canned sour and sweet cherries have slightly higher amounts of some vitamins and minerals than the average fresh sweet cherries. These nutrients include iron, manganese, copper, folate and riboflavin.
Member Comments