Apricot glycemic index (GI)

by Victoria Mazmanyan | Last updated on August 14, 2023

Medically reviewed by Ani Harutyunyan

Apricots are stone fruits with a variety of species. Usually, an apricot tree is from a species called Prunus armeniaca.

Depending on the species, cultivating environment, and other factors, the glycemic index of apricot can differ. Most apricots tend to fall under the classification of low glycemic index foods.

In the report of The National Tables of Glycemic Index, a raw apricot from Australia has a glycemic index of 34±3. In contrast, a raw apricot from Italy has a higher GI of 57. Apricot halves, canned in fruit juice from South Africa, have a GI of 51±5. In comparison, Canadian apricots, canned in light syrup, have an increased GI of 64 (1).

The GI of dried apricots from Australia is 30±7. Ready-to-eat dried apricots from the UK have a GI of 31±6, and a different brand of bite-size and ready-to-eat dried apricots from the UK have a GI of 32±7. The mean of these three studies shows us that the average GI of dried apricots is 31 (1).

Apricot summer fruit yogurt from the UK has a GI of 11±4. A sample from a low-fat yogurt from the UK has shown a significant difference with a GI of 42±6 (1).

A 100% apricot fruit spread, with no added sugar from Australia, has a GI of 43±6. An apricot fruit spread with reduced sugar naturally has a higher GI of 55±7. Overall the mean of multiple studies has shown the average GI of apricot fruit spread to be 51±3 (1).

It has been studied that dried apricots combined with nuts have the potential to mitigate postprandial glycemic response and can be considered a healthy snack for people with diabetes (2).

Another research has found that dried fruit, especially apricots, reduces the glycemic response of white bread through the displacement of half of the available carbohydrate (3).

Dried apricots are also ample with potassium that can decrease blood pressure (4).

You can also check the glycemic indexes of 350+ foods on our glycemic index chart page.