Vitamin C-Rich Foods: Top Fruits and Vegetables Ranked

Vitamin C at a glance

• Why it matters: your body needs vitamin C (ascorbic acid) to make collagen, the protein in connective tissue that is key to wound healing, as well as L-carnitine and some neurotransmitters. It is also an antioxidant, plays a role in immune function and improves the absorption of nonheme iron from plant foods (NIH ODS).
• You must eat it: unlike most animals, humans cannot make vitamin C, and it is water-soluble, so you need a regular supply from food.
• Best sources: fruits and vegetables, especially citrus, red and green peppers, kiwifruit, broccoli, strawberries and Brussels sprouts. Some breakfast cereals are fortified.
• Top picks per serving here: Guava, Pummelo, Green chili pepper.

How much vitamin C do you need?

The Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) from the National Academies, summarized by the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, are 90 mg a day for men and 75 mg for women 19 and older, 85 mg during pregnancy and 120 mg while breastfeeding. Teens need 65 to 75 mg and children 15 to 45 mg, depending on age. People who smoke need 35 mg more per day, because smoking increases oxidative stress and lowers vitamin C levels; people exposed to secondhand smoke should make sure they meet the RDA. The Daily Value (DV) on Nutrition Facts labels is 90 mg, so a food with 18 mg provides 20% DV, which counts as a high source.

Most people get enough from food: NIH notes that five varied servings of fruits and vegetables a day can provide more than 200 mg.

Vitamin C-rich foods list (per serving)

Values are for the form listed (raw unless marked boiled or baked). We left canned tomato juice out of the ranking: USDA SR Legacy lists about 128 mg per ¾ cup, but NIH lists 33 mg for the same serving, so products clearly vary; check the label. Fruits and juices add natural sugar, so compare the kcal column, and whole fruit also brings fiber.

Vitamin C and iron: pair them at meals

Vitamin C improves the absorption of nonheme iron, the form of iron in plant foods such as beans, lentils, tofu, leafy greens and fortified cereals (NIH ODS). The NIH iron fact sheet estimates that iron bioavailability is about 14% to 18% from mixed diets that include meat, seafood and vitamin C, versus 5% to 12% from vegetarian diets, although in a typical Western diet these enhancers and inhibitors have little effect on most people’s iron status. Harvard’s Nutrition Source suggests a small glass of 100% fruit juice or a vitamin C-rich food with meals to help boost iron absorption.

• Add red bell pepper and lime to beans, as in our black bean burrito bowl.
• Finish lentils with lemon juice, like our lentil vegetable soup, or toss kale chickpea salad with a lemon dressing.
• Cook spinach and chickpeas with tomatoes, as in our chickpea spinach curry.
• Stir-fry tofu with broccoli and red pepper, as in our tofu vegetable stir-fry.

For iron amounts per serving, see our foods high in iron list. If you have hereditary hemochromatosis, NIH notes that high doses of vitamin C could worsen iron overload, and the NIH iron fact sheet notes that the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases recommends avoiding iron and vitamin C supplements.

Cooking and storage: keep more of it

Vitamin C is water-soluble and destroyed by heat, so prolonged storage and cooking can reduce the amount in food; steaming or microwaving may lessen losses (NIH ODS). In USDA data, raw broccoli has about 89 mg per 100 g and boiled broccoli about 65 mg, while raw kale has about 93 mg per 100 g versus about 18 mg boiled.

• Eat some produce raw: peppers, tomatoes, citrus, kiwifruit and berries need no cooking.
• Cook quickly in little water, for example by steaming, stir-frying or blanching, and use the cooking liquid in soups or sauces so the vitamin C that leaches out is not lost (Harvard Nutrition Source).
• Light also breaks it down; MedlinePlus suggests choosing orange juice sold in a carton rather than a clear bottle.

Deficiency and who is at risk

Severe vitamin C deficiency causes scurvy. NIH notes that signs can appear within about a month of intakes below roughly 10 mg a day: fatigue, malaise and inflamed gums at first, then easy bruising, small red skin spots, joint pain, poor wound healing, corkscrew hairs, and swollen, bleeding gums with loose teeth. Iron deficiency anemia can also develop. Scurvy is rare in developed countries but is fatal if untreated.

According to NIH, groups more likely to fall short of the RDA include people who smoke or are exposed to secondhand smoke, infants fed evaporated or boiled cow’s milk, people with very limited food variety (including some older adults and people who misuse alcohol or drugs), and people with severe malabsorption, some cancers, or kidney failure on hemodialysis. National survey data from 2001-2002 put mean intakes at about 105 mg a day for adult men and 84 mg for adult women, so most people meet their needs. Read more in our article on vitamin C and brain aging.

Supplements: what the evidence says

Ascorbic acid, the most common supplement form, is as well absorbed as the vitamin C naturally in foods, and NIH notes that studies comparing other forms (such as Ester-C or ascorbic acid with bioflavonoids) found little reason to choose them over plain ascorbic acid. The body absorbs about 70% to 90% of vitamin C at intakes of 30 to 180 mg a day, but less than 50% at doses above 1 gram, and the excess is excreted in urine.

For colds, a Cochrane review summarized by NIH found that regular vitamin C did not reduce the risk of catching a cold in the general population, but it reduced colds by about half in people under heavy physical stress such as marathon runners, skiers and soldiers, and modestly shortened colds in everyone else. Taking it only after symptoms start did not help. For immune-supporting eating patterns, see our immune support foods.

Easy ways to eat more vitamin C

• Add berries to breakfast, like our Greek yogurt berry parfait, or have a kiwifruit or orange as a snack.
• Dip raw red pepper strips in hummus, as in our classic hummus and veggies, or roll them into a hummus veggie wrap.
• Squeeze lemon over fish and vegetables, as in our lemon herb chicken with brown rice and sheet-pan salmon with vegetables.
• Add tomatoes and lime to dips, like our fresh guacamole.
• Keep cut fruit, peppers and snow peas ready for quick healthy snacks, and see our guides to the healthiest fruits and vegetables.

Related on HealAtlas

• Foods high in iron
• Calcium-rich foods
• Potassium-rich foods
• Magnesium-rich foods
• High-fiber foods list
• Top 10 healthiest fruits
• Top 10 healthiest vegetables
• Foods for immune support
• Vitamin C and brain aging
• Iron deficiency without anemia
• Healthy whole-food recipes