Pineapple is a sweet treat, but fresh pineapple is not always convenient or available. The fresh fruit provides more vitamin C and less added sugar than most canned varieties. If you cannot find fresh, choose a version canned in water to minimize your intake of added sugars and moderate calories.
Calories
A cup of cubed fresh pineapple has 82 calories. Crushed or cubed pineapple packed in water contains a similar number. Choose a can with light syrup and you consume 131 calories per cup or up to 198 calories per cup if it is packed in heavy syrup.
Sugar
Fresh pineapple contains 16 g of natural sugar per cup. Pineapple in light syrup has double that amount due to the sugary syrup. Pineapple packed in heavy syrup contains an astounding 43 g of sugar per cup – almost 7 teaspoons. of added sugar. The American Heart Association recommends limiting added sugar to just 6 teaspoons per day for women and 9 per day for men.
Vitamin C
Vitamin C is sensitive to processing and heating. Fresh pineapple provides 79 mg per cup -- more than the daily value, based on a 2,000-calorie diet. Canned versions provide just about 19 mg of vitamin C in each cup. Vitamin C is important to the health of your immune system and enables your body to repair and grow tissue.
Potassium
Canned pineapple has more potassium than fresh pineapple. One cup of fresh pineapple offers 180 mg of the mineral, while 1 cup of canned pineapple in any type of liquid provides about 265 mg. You need potassium to regulate your fluid and mineral balance.
Fiber
You need between 25 and 30 g of fiber per day, notes the Harvard School of Public Health. Fiber promotes healthy digestion and may help lower your cholesterol levels. One cup of fresh or canned pineapple offers 2 g of fiber.
Additional Nutrients
Pineapple provides small amounts of several B vitamins. Canned pineapple provides double the amount of the B vitamin thiamin, which helps metabolize food into energy. Fresh pineapple, however, contains almost three times as much folate as canned – important to red blood cell functioning and in the prevention of certain neural tube defects in developing fetuses. Canned pineapple is a better source of the trace mineral manganese. Both canned and fresh pineapple provide small amounts of calcium, magnesium, copper and iron.
References
- Harvard School of Public Health: Fiber
- Institute of Medicine: Dietary Reference Intakes: Vitamins and Elements
- "Circulation"; Dietary Sugars Intake and Cardiovascular Health : A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association; Rachel K. Johnson, et al.; August 2009
- Effect of Processing on Nutrient Content of Foods; Audrey Morris, et al.; 2004
- USDA Database: Pineapple
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