Are bananas and avocado low FODMAP?

Firm bananas are; ripe bananas only in a small serve; and avocado is high in a standard serve. Monash University lists 1 medium unripe banana (100g) as a low FODMAP serve and rates ripe banana high in fructans, with a small serve of 1/3 banana. In 2015, Monash rated 1/8 of an avocado (30g) low; after its February 2024 retest it changed the app's avocado serves, but the post doesn't give the new figures, so check the app.

The ripe and firm banana ratings are those Monash published in May 2017, in Update: Bananas re-tested! by research dietitians Shirley Webber and Lyndal Collins. The Monash FODMAP app holds Monash's current serves, so check the app before relying on a number here. This page is general information, not dietary advice.

The unripe banana serve is from Monash's Getting enough fibre (January 2021), and the avocado figure from 10 foods you didn't know you could eat by Jane Varney (May 2015). The colour meanings are from Understanding the traffic lights in the Monash FODMAP Diet App by Lyndal Collins (October 2018).

Why ripeness and serve size matter

In Monash's traffic lights, "A large 'green' traffic light means that the food is low in FODMAPs in a 'typical' serving", and red means high. For bananas, ripeness changes the rating: Monash's 2017 retest explains that "[s]tudies investigating bananas specifically have found that their fructan content increases when they are stored and ripened in cold storage, which is now relatively common practice by supermarket chains to prevent spoilage and guarantee even ripening."

For avocado, it's the serve. Monash's 2015 post listed avocado among foods "rated 'red' at a full serve, but 'green' at a half serve". Its 2018 traffic lights post, written before the February 2024 retest, used avocado as its example: "high (red) in FODMAPs at the 'standard' serving size of 80g", or half an avocado, moderate at 45g and low at 30g, with sorbitol as the FODMAP.

Are bananas low FODMAP?

Firm ones are. Monash lists 1 medium unripe banana (100g) as a low FODMAP serve, and its 2017 retest rates "Ripe banana = High (Oligo-fructans)" and "Firm banana = Low (Oligo-fructans)". It adds that "you can still have a small serve of ripe banana (1/3 banana)", and that "if you currently tolerate ripe bananas well, then there is no need to remove them from your diet."

Banana chips appear on Monash's low FODMAP shopping list (February 2025), but the Monash articles cited here give no serve for them, so we don't list any.

Is avocado low FODMAP?

Not in a standard serve. As of its February 2024 retest, Monash was "hesitant to change the FODMAP rating of avocados in our app from high (red) to low (green) in a standard serve". Its 2015 post rated 1/8 of an avocado (30g) low. The avocado retest (February 2024) found that the polyol in avocado is perseitol rather than sorbitol, and Monash updated "the overall serving size information and traffic light ratings for avocado according to the new results for perseitol" in its app; the post doesn't give the new figures, so check the app. Guacamole and dips often add garlic and onion, so we list whole avocado only.

Monash also says "we would still encourage completing a separate food challenge with avocado to test your own tolerance".

Before you buy

• Monash's shopping list (February 2025) names firm bananas as low FODMAP, and leaves serve sizes to the Monash FODMAP app.
• Check the Monash FODMAP app for avocado's current serve.

None of the products listed on this page is in Coles' FODMAP Friendly aisle, and we haven't tested any of them. Names, links and stockists come from this week's prices.

For grapes and strawberries, see are grapes low FODMAP?, and for packaged staples, the low FODMAP shopping guide.

This page is general information, not medical or dietary advice. An Accredited Practising Dietitian who knows the low FODMAP diet can work out which fruits suit you; Dietitians Australia has a directory to find one.