CALCULATION AND COMPARISON OF NUTRIENT DENSITY/QUALITY SCORES FOR COMMONLY CONSUMED FRESH FRUIT

Abstract

A number of methods have been developed to quantitatively describe the nutrient density/quality (ND/Q) of foods and beverages. Seventeen commonly consumed fresh fruits were evaluated using six published ND/Q methods. Nutrient data for each fruit were obtained from the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 23. Numerical scores were produced and ranked for each fruit and method. The resulting ND/Q scores varied in range and magnitude but there was good to strong correlation among methods. The relative scores indicated that cantaloupe, strawberries, oranges, and grapefruit generally had the highest ND/Q scores across all methods. Further analysis indicated that vitamins C and A, nutrients common to all six methods, affected ND/Q scores substantially for some but not all fruits, suggesting that high values for specific nutrients may influence relative scoring and higher scores may not necessarily reflect a greater variety or balance of nutrients. Fresh fruits vary in their ND/Q as defined by several quantitative scoring systems. In this analysis, consistent results in how the fruits were ranked were obtained when using six different methods to quantify ND/Q for select fresh fruit.

Keywords

• Fruit
• nutrients
• nutrient density
• nutrient quality
• nutrient profile