A medium banana long about 7 to 8 inches and weighing around 118 grams of edible pulp, stores a surprisingly big amount of sugar (almost 14).4 grams. That sugar splits between sucrose at 6.5 g, glucose at 4.2 g and fructose at around 3.7 g. Honestly, I did not expect such level of sweetness in bananas when I first researched them. Also, the skin makes up around 30% of the whole weight, so that 168-gram whole banana delivers only 118 grams to actually taste.

Ripeness honestly changes everything when dealing with the sugar in bananas. Green samples have only around 7 or 8 grams of sugar, because most of the carbohydrates stay as starch, around 8.5 grams. So, when bananas ripen and become yellow, the sugar can rise to almost 17.5 g. It is the same amount of carbohydrates, around 27 g, but simply a diffrent proportion between starch and sugar.

How much sugar is in a banana

Notably, smaller bananas with 101 g of pulp have only around 12.4 g of sugar, while bigger ones at 136 g reach up to 16.6 g. And if you eat a whole bunch full of bananas, that reaches even 27.5 g of sugar, honestly a lot for something that many consider healthy food.

The following facts do not come from any calculator or converter. Rather, they are based on deep research threw scientific sources, forum talks and experiences of cooking communities on the net.

Bananas do not always seem very sweet, but under that yellow skin hides natural sugar in nice amount. A common banana has around 14 grams of sugar, without any extras. Some values even reach 15 grams, and a very big sample can store up to 20 grams.

That sugar is made up of fructose, glucose and sucrose, where ripe bananas show a big increase of fructose and glucose compared to green.

Ripeness is the main factor here. Young green bananas store more starch and less sugar. But as they ripen and become yellow, enzymes like amylase start to break that starch into sugars.

When a banana fully ripens, it can have almost double the sugar of an unripe one. Interestingly, even so, between ripe and too ripe bananas there is not a big difference in sugar. Those green ones also store some polyphenols, known as tannins, that give them that bitter, face-twisting taste.

A common banana has around 105 calories and 27 to 28 grams of carbohydrates. Those carbohydrates come from a mix of sugar, starch and fibers. Bananas are fairly free of fat and have only a little protein, so they honestly focus on carbohydrates.

When you break it down, the sugar makes up around 15% of the whole fruit.

Here is what separates bananas from, say, a sugar treat or candy bar, the starch and fibers in a banana slow the taking in of sugar in the body. That results in a more stable, less dramatic rise of blood sugar. So bananas rank fairly low on the glycemic index.

Eating a banana is a lot healthier than taking the same amount of sugar from a chocolate bar or fruit juice, because the body must work more to break everything down.

Actually, a medium banana stores less sugar than a medium apple, but more than a cup of cut watermelon bits. On top of that sugar, bananas offer a good amount of potassium, magnesium, vitamin B6 and fibers.

The real problem is the added sugar, not the natural kind in fruits like bananas. The advice is do not go past 25 grams of added sugar a day, and sugar from bananas does not count in that. Even so, eating big amounts of any fruit can affect the blood sugar, depending on the amount, kind of fruit and your whole activity.

A small banana in a shake will not do big harm. But removing all sugar from the diet is almostimpossible, because it shows up in everything from vegetables to store products.