Your body converts the beta-carotene you consume in foods into the amount of vitamin A it needs. An essential nutrient, vitamin A helps to maintain your immune system, vision, skin and mucus membranes. Including foods rich in beta-carotene in your everyday diet will help your body meet its vitamin A requirement without supplements. Fruits with yellow or orange flesh contain significant amounts of beta-carotene. A deeper color usually indicates a higher concentration of beta-carotene.
Melons
With its bright-orange flesh, cantaloupe tops the list of fruit sources of beta-carotene. A cup of cantaloupe balls contains 3,575 mcg of beta-carotene. A cup of reddish-pink watermelon balls provides 467 mcg of beta-carotene. Green-fleshed honeydew melon only contains 53 mcg of beta-carotene per cup.
Stone Fruits
A fresh apricot has 383 mcg of beta-carotene and 1/4 cup of dried apricots contains 703 mcg of beta-carotene. A medium-sized peach contains 243 mcg of beta-carotene; a medium-size nectarine has 213 mcg of beta-carotene. You'll get 125 mcg of beta-carotene from a fresh plum. A cup of sour red cherries provides 793 mcg of beta-carotene, while a cup of sweet cherries has only 52 mcg of beta-carotene.
Citrus
Among citrus fruits, pink or red grapefruits have the most beta-carotene, offering 844 mcg per half of one fruit. White grapefruit only has 17 mcg of beta-carotene per half fruit. A medium-sized tangerine has 136 mcg of beta-carotene, while a medium-sized orange contains 93 mcg of beta-carotene. Half a cup of canned mandarin oranges packed in fruit juice and drained has 282 mcg of beta-carotene. Lemons and limes contain negligible amounts of beta-carotene.
Tropical
A cup of fresh passion fruit has 1,753 mcg of beta-carotene. A cup of raw purple passion fruit juice provides 1,035 mcg of beta-carotene, while a cup of raw yellow passion fruit juice has 1,297 mcg of beta-carotene. A cup of fresh mango chunks contains 1,056 mcg of beta carotene. You'll get 617 mcg of beta-carotene from a cup of guava pieces and 397 mcg of beta-carotene from a cup of papaya chunks. A cup of pineapple chunks has only 58 mcg of beta-carotene.
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