Blackberries contain .62 milligrams of iron per 100 grams. Grams is a measure of weight. To put 100 grams in perspective, consider alternative measures for this food:
- 1 cup equals 144 grams.
In the category of fruit, we excluded dried fruit from the Top 10 list and include only fresh fruit. You can assume that if the fresh version made the top 10 list, so too would the dried version.The food tested for the particular graph below can be described more specifically as:
Blackberries, raw
Read more about iron in fruit or visit our iron-rich foods list.
Blackberries and Iron
Blackberries do provide a bit of iron to the diet. One cup of blackberries provides about three percent of a woman’s recommended daily iron intake. This is not a great deal of iron but it is fairly good for a fruit. That same cup of blackberries also contains about 30 milligrams of Vitamin C, a vitamin that helps us absorb more iron from plant-based sources of iron. One cup of blackberries is quite a bit of berry, but if you have access to them and they are fresh, they will provide you with a bit of iron and Vitamin C and, of course, they are a strong source of antioxidants. Eat them on an iron-rich porridge like a quinoa breakfast cereal or as a dessert to add nutrition to your meal.
Fruit as a food group is not a great source of iron but it does have an important role in your ability to metabolize iron. Fruit is often packed with vitamin C which will actually help you metabolize the iron more completely in your plant-based foods; Blackberries are a solid source of vitamin C.
As an example, you may wish to combine tomatoes and green peppers with a grain-based entrée or with legumes to improve your absorption of the iron in your entire meal. A raw pineapple dessert with a meal would also improve your iron metabolism because of the fruit’s vitamin content. A glass of fruit juice is also a good move. Learn more about how these vitamin C fruits reduce the impact of foods that inhibit iron in your meal even though they contain very little iron in themselves.
Explore this site for more information about iron rich foods. Be sure to use the search function to search for the iron content of your favorite ingredients.