Apricot (dried)
Fruits · Stone Fruits
One dried apricot, about 10 g, is rated amber, and three or four, about 30 g, are rated red. The handful is the portion people actually take, and the handful is the red one. What sets dried apricots apart from other dried fruit is that two groups climb together: sorbitol and excess fructose, arriving in the same chewy piece.
Last updated 4 September 2026Serving sizes for apricot (dried)
One dried apricot (10 g) is amber; three or four (30 g) are red. Sorbitol and excess fructose share the load.
Tested serving sizes
| Serving | Amount | Main FODMAP | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 dried apricot | 10 g | Sorbitol 0.15 g | |
| 3-4 dried apricots | 30 g | Sorbitol 0.45 g |
Breakdown for 1 dried apricot
Is apricot (dried) low FODMAP?
A single apricot earns its amber on 0.12 g of excess fructose, over the 0.05 g moderate mark, with 0.15 g of sorbitol sitting just below its own 0.2 g line. At three or four pieces everything rises at once: excess fructose reaches 0.36 g, more than double the 0.15 g high threshold, sorbitol reaches 0.45 g and fructans reach 0.15 g. Those groups are handled by different mechanisms in the gut, so no single sensitivity accounts for the rating. Prunes are effectively a sorbitol food and raisins an excess fructose one; apricots are both at the same time.
Apricot (dried) and IBS: what to know
Dried apricots are sold and shelved as the sensible snack, which is how a red-rated portion ends up in a desk drawer with no decision attached to it. Carrying two groups also makes them awkward while you are still identifying triggers: a rough afternoon after a handful will not tell you whether sorbitol or fructose was responsible, and both turn up elsewhere, sorbitol in stone fruit and sugar-free gum, excess fructose in honey and fruit juice. That makes apricots a poor food to test yourself with and a sensible one to leave out while you test something else.
Gut-friendly ways to eat apricot (dried)
When you want dried fruit by the spoonful rather than by the piece, a tablespoon of raisins is rated green and dried cranberries are rated green as well. In cooking, one apricot chopped fine does more work than three eaten whole: slivered through a grain salad or a lamb tagine, the amber portion spreads across the plate instead of landing in a single bite. Muesli bars, trail mix and granola are where to be careful, since apricot turns up in them already mixed with other dried fruit and nobody portions anything.
Frequently asked questions
How many dried apricots can I eat with IBS?
The tested amber portion is a single apricot. Three or four take the rating to red, and since each piece is barely a mouthful, that gap closes fast once the bag is open. Amber means try it carefully outside the elimination phase and watch what follows, rather than treating one apricot as automatically fine.
Are dried apricots worse than prunes for IBS?
Not worse, different. A prune carries more sorbitol per piece and effectively nothing else, so a reaction to prunes points at one group. A dried apricot carries less sorbitol but adds excess fructose alongside it, drawing on two. Both are amber at one piece and red at 30 g, which means neither is the safe version of the other.
Are fresh apricots low FODMAP?
Fresh apricot has its own entry in this guide and is rated green there, so look it up rather than assuming the dried figures carry across. Most of the water has been taken out of the dried version, which is why a piece you can finish in two bites holds what a much larger fresh fruit did. They are not interchangeable in a recipe or in a portion.
Why do dried apricots cause bloating and gas?
Two mechanisms run at once. Sorbitol is absorbed slowly and only partly, drawing water into the bowel before it ferments in the colon, while unabsorbed fructose is fermented there as well. At three or four apricots both are over their limits, so the effect arrives from two directions rather than one. That is why cutting the portion helps far more than changing brands.
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