Apple vs. Apricot — Health Impact and Nutrition Comparison

Introduction

Being members of the Rosaceae family and having many things in common, apricots and apples have a lot of differences.

Usually, the taste of an apple falls between a little sweet and a little tart flavor: it depends on the harvest conditions and the weather conditions it is grown. Being a member of the genus Prunus, apricot tastes sweet but has a tiny tart flavor: it is like a small peach. You can read about apricot and peach nutrition comparison here. 

This article will discuss the differences between apricot and apple in terms of nutrition and health impact. We will mention the nutritional values of raw apples with smooth skin (1) and raw apricots with peachy flesh(2). However, we will also address other types of these fruits for comparison.

Macronutrients

Vitamins

The winner in this section is the apricot. It is richer than apple in all vitamins. Apricots provide significant amounts of vitamin A, E, and C. Apples are also rich in vitamin B6, substantial in protein metabolism (3). These fruits do not contain vitamins B12 and D.

Vitamin Comparison

Vitamin comparison score is based on the number of vitamins by which one or the other food is richer. The "coverage" charts below show how much of the daily needs can be covered by 300 grams of the food.

Apple

1

Apricot

10

Contains more CholineCholine

+21.4%

Contains more Vitamin CVitamin C	+117.4%
Contains more Vitamin AVitamin A	+2268.5%
Contains more Vitamin EVitamin E	+394.4%
Contains more Vitamin B1Vitamin B1	+76.5%
Contains more Vitamin B2Vitamin B2	+53.8%
Contains more Vitamin B3Vitamin B3	+559.3%
Contains more Vitamin B5Vitamin B5	+293.4%
Contains more Vitamin B6Vitamin B6	+31.7%
Contains more Vitamin KVitamin K	+50%
Contains more FolateFolate	+200%

~equal in Vitamin D ~0µg

~equal in Vitamin B12 ~0µg

Minerals

Apricot is richer in minerals than apple. Apricots contain nearly two times more calcium, iron, phosphorus, magnesium, and potassium than apples. Apricots provide 259mg of potassium per 100g of fruit, while the same amount of apples contains 107mg of it.

You can see the mineral distribution in two fruits in the chart shown below.

Mineral Comparison

Mineral comparison score is based on the number of minerals by which one or the other food is richer. The "coverage" charts below show how much of the daily needs can be covered by 300 grams of the food.

Apple

0

Apricot

9

Contains more MagnesiumMagnesium	+100%
Contains more CalciumCalcium	+116.7%
Contains more PotassiumPotassium	+142.1%
Contains more IronIron	+225%
Contains more CopperCopper	+188.9%
Contains more ZincZinc	+400%
Contains more PhosphorusPhosphorus	+109.1%
Contains more ManganeseManganese	+120%
Contains more SeleniumSelenium	+∞%

~equal in Sodium ~1mg

Dried apricots vs. dried apples

Sometimes people choose the dried versions of the fruits. This part of the article discusses the nutritional values of dried apricot (4) and dried apple (5) and the differences between them and fresh fruits.

The water content of dried types of these fruits is significantly lower: both dried apricots and dried apples have approximately 55g less water than the fresh ones. The dried variants are nearly five times higher in calories and six times higher in carbs than the fresh ones. Vitamin amounts in dried variants are negligible.

Dried apricots are higher in proteins: they have 3.4g of proteins per 100g, while the same amount of dried apples contains only one gram of them. Dried apricots are richer in most minerals, especially potassium, with 1160mg compared to 450mg in dried apples.

Cardiovascular health

Section reviewed by cardiologist Astghik Grigoryan

Both apricots and apples promote cardiovascular health, but the mechanisms and chemicals provided by them are different.

According to these studies, apricot and apple have antioxidant effects which are important for reducing the risk of atherosclerosis (6.7).

Eating apples may lower total cholesterol and bad cholesterol levels in the blood. This effect is unknown for apricots, however, eating apricot seeds may positively modify the lipoprotein profile in people who have high total cholesterol (8.9).

In this study, apples had no significant effect on blood pressure, unlike apricots, which have soluble fibers that may help with blood pressure control (10.11).

Gut health

Section reviewed by gastroenterologist Arpi Gasparyan

Both apples and apricots contain soluble dietary fibers that are beneficial for the gut microbiome. Apples contain pectin, which helps improve the colon's Bacteriodetes content. Soluble dietary fiber is also linked to a decreased risk of obesity (12.13.14).

Due to their soluble and insoluble fiber contents, they beneficially affect chronic constipation by increasing bowel movements and adding bulk to the stool.

References

1. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/171688/nutrients
2. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/171697/nutrients
3. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminB6-HealthProfessional/
4. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/173941/nutrients
5. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/173941/nutrients
6. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0278691509000246
7. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32725042/
8. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35449537/
9. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35055679/
10. https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/108/5/1006/5201457
11. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-15-7285-2_27
12. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4808856/
13. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23768554/
14. https://nutritionj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12937-016-0173-x