Magnesium facilitates over 300 functions in the various systems in your body. This mineral regulates blood pressure, maintains a controlled heartbeat and, like calcium, helps strengthen bones. Potassium is an electrolyte, a nutrient that emits electric signals to power your tissues, cells and organs. Your bowels move and your heart beats, for example, thanks in part to potassium. A number of fruits provide both magnesium and potassium in varying amounts.
Apple
One medium apple with the skin on, measuring about 3 inches in diameter, has 9.1 milligrams magnesium. This represents 2 percent of the recommended daily intake -- RDI -- for the mineral. The same fruit gives you 194.74 milligrams potassium, or 4 percent of the RDI. The RDI is based on a daily 2,000-calorie diet for an adult.
Blackberry
One cup of blackberries contains 28.8 milligrams of magnesium, 7 percent of the RDI. The potassium content in this serving of berries corresponds to 5 percent of the RDI for potassium, or 233.28 milligrams. The same amount of blackberries is a rich source of manganese, providing 47 percent of the RDI for this trace mineral.
Cherimoya
Cherimoya trees were first planted in 1871 in California, and they still grow in the southern part of the state. You can eat only the sweet and juicy flesh of the fruit, not its skin and seeds. One cup of the edible portion of cherimoya contains 27.2 milligrams magnesium and provides 7 percent of the RDI for this mineral. The serving also has 10 percent of the RDI for potassium, or 459.2 milligrams.
Date
A single pitted date is surprisingly rich in potassium. This small fruit provides 4 percent of the RDI for potassium, 167.04 milligrams. It also contains 3 percent of the RDI for magnesium, or 12.96 milligrams.
Passion Fruit
A Brazilian native, passion fruit seems to have more seeds than meat, but 1 cup of its gooey pulp packs a significant amount of potassium and magnesium. It has 68.44 milligrams magnesium and 821.28 milligrams potassium, equal to 17 percent of the RDI for both minerals.
Prickly Pear
The red fruit of the prickly pear cactus is edible and an excellent source of magnesium: One cup provides 32 percent of the RDI for this nutrient -- 126.65 milligrams. Its potassium content is not as impressive, yet it makes a worthy contribution -- 7 percent of the RDI, or 327.8 milligrams.
References
- Office of Dietary Supplements: Magnesium
- University of Maryland Medical Center; Potassium; Steven D. Ehrlich, N.M.D.
- SkipThePie.org: Nutritional Info: Raw Apple With Skin
- SkipThePie.org: Nutritional Info: Blackberries, Raw
- California Rare Fruit Growers, Inc.: Cherimoya
- SkipThePie.org: Cherimoya, Raw
- SkipThePie.org: Nutritional Info: Date, Medjool
- California Rare Fruit Growers, Inc.: Passion Fruit
- SkipThePie.org: Nutritional Info: Passion-fruit, (Granadilla), Purple, Raw
- SkipThePie.org: Nutritional Info: Prickly Pears, Raw
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