Our Kakadu plum, lab tested: 121mg of natural vitamin C in every gram, 60mg in every capsule, against an adult need of 45mg a day. Gram for gram, 240 times the vitamin C of a fresh orange.
The best vitamin E foods are oils, nuts and seeds: wheat germ oil, sunflower seeds and almonds top every list. But at the end of this one sits a native Australian fruit that the Australian Government’s own study found ahead of every other fruit, herb and spice tested. Kakadu plum contains 6.1mg of vitamin E per 100g, and 98% of it is alpha-tocopherol, the form your body uses most readily.
Vitamin E foods, ranked
Vitamin E is most concentrated in oils, nuts and seeds. These are the richest sources per 100g, from US Government (NIH and USDA) data, with Kakadu plum from the Australian Government study.
| Food (per 100g) | Vitamin E |
|---|---|
| Wheat germ oil | 149mg |
| Hazelnut oil | 47mg |
| Sunflower oil | 41mg |
| Sunflower seeds | 35mg |
| Almonds | 25mg |
| Hazelnuts | 15mg |
| Peanut butter | 9mg |
| Kakadu plum (dried): the highest of any fruit tested | 6.1mg |
| Avocado (fresh) | 2.1mg |
| Spinach (cooked) | 2.1mg |
| Red capsicum | 1.6mg |
| Kiwifruit | 1.5mg |
| Mango (fresh) | 0.9mg |
| Banana | 0.1mg |
A 30g handful of almonds gives you about 7.5mg, close to a full day’s need for women, and a tablespoon of sunflower oil about 5mg. One thing almost every vitamin E list has in common: nobody mentions Kakadu plum.
The fruit highest in vitamin E: Kakadu plum
In 2009 the Australian Government commissioned a national study that tested the vitamins, minerals and antioxidants in Kakadu plum against every other fruit, herb and spice in its database. On vitamin E the result was clear: Kakadu plum had the highest level of any fruit tested, at 6.1mg per 100g dried, which the report described as “comparable to Hass avocado”.
The form matters too. Of that 6.1mg, 5.97mg (98%) is alpha-tocopherol, the form the body uses most readily. Some plant sources carry more of the gamma or delta forms, which the body uses less efficiently. Kakadu plum’s vitamin E is almost entirely the kind your cells actually use.
It doesn’t come alone. Gram for gram, our lab-tested Kakadu plum has 240 times the vitamin C of a fresh orange, and the Government scans found over 100 compounds in the fruit, including iron, zinc, copper and manganese. Kakadu plum vitamin C → · Vitamin C and collagen → · What is Kakadu plum?
Kakadu Plum Vitamin C Capsules: 140 capsules, whole fruit powder including the seed →
What is vitamin E good for?
Vitamin E is a fat-soluble antioxidant. The approved Australian wording (FSANZ Standard 1.2.7) is simple: vitamin E contributes to cell protection from free radical damage.
Here’s how. Every cell in your body is wrapped in a membrane made largely of fats. Free radicals, the unstable molecules made by UV light, pollution and normal living, attack those fats in a process called lipid peroxidation. Vitamin E steps in and stops the free radical before it can break the membrane down.
Because it dissolves in fat, not water, your body stores what it doesn’t use straight away in fat tissue and the liver. Unlike vitamin C, which the body flushes out daily, vitamin E can be banked. The two also work as a team: vitamin C recharges vitamin E after it has neutralised a free radical, so each makes the other go further. Kakadu plum has both.
Antioxidant-rich foods: how Kakadu plum compares →
Natural vs synthetic vitamin E
Most vitamin E supplements contain dl-alpha-tocopherol, a synthetic form made by chemical synthesis. The natural form found in food, d-alpha-tocopherol, is absorbed and kept by the body at about twice the rate of the synthetic one.
Food also delivers vitamin E alongside other compounds, like polyphenols, carotenoids and other antioxidants, that affect how it behaves in the body. Kakadu plum’s total antioxidant power measured 10.5 times a blueberry on the FRAP test, with 4.7 times the total antioxidant compounds. A single isolated supplement can’t copy that combination.
How much vitamin E per day?
Australia’s Nutrient Reference Values, set by the NHMRC:
- Adult men: 10mg a day
- Adult women: 7mg a day
- Pregnancy: 7mg a day
- Breastfeeding: 11mg a day
The upper limit from supplements is 300mg a day. Because vitamin E is fat-soluble, eating vitamin E foods with some fat, like a salad with olive oil or almonds with avocado, helps carry it into your bloodstream.
Why our capsules keep the seed
Most Kakadu plum products use only the dried flesh. Ours is whole-fruit powder: fruit and seed kernel together. Milling the seed to the same fine, grit-free powder as the fruit costs more and takes more work. We do it because the numbers are worth it, and most Kakadu plum supplements leave it out.
Per 100g, the seed kernel carries much more of the minerals that sit alongside vitamin E:
- Zinc: 6.0mg, 10 times the fruit flesh (0.57mg)
- Copper: 2.5mg, 8 times the fruit flesh (0.30mg)
- Manganese: 9.1mg, 2.6 times the fruit flesh (3.5mg)
- Iron: 6.1mg, 50% more than the fruit flesh (4.0mg)
On top of that, the kernel is 32% protein (researchers called it a potential new protein source), 35% fat with about four-fifths of it unsaturated, and 21% fibre, with 539mg calcium, 421mg magnesium and 669mg potassium. A product without the seed gives you half the plant. The full seed breakdown → · Magnesium-rich foods →
Vitamin E questions, answered
What food is highest in vitamin E?
Wheat germ oil, at 149mg per 100g, followed by sunflower oil at 41mg. Among nuts and seeds, sunflower seeds (35mg) and almonds (25mg) lead. Among fruits, Kakadu plum is highest, at 6.1mg per 100g dried, the top of every fruit, herb and spice in the Australian Government’s study. See the fruit →
Which fruit is for vitamin E?
Kakadu plum. The Australian Government’s national study found it had the highest vitamin E of every fruit tested, 6.1mg per 100g dried, with 98% in the alpha-tocopherol form your body uses most readily. Avocado and mango also contain some. See what Kakadu plum looks like →
Is banana high in vitamin E?
No. Banana has about 0.1mg of vitamin E per 100g, roughly 1% of a day’s need per serve. It’s a good source of potassium and vitamin B6, but not vitamin E.
What are symptoms of lack of vitamin E?
True vitamin E deficiency is rare in healthy adults eating a normal diet. When it happens, it usually shows as numbness or weakness in the arms and legs (peripheral neuropathy), muscle weakness and a lower vitamin E levels. It’s most common in people with conditions that affect fat absorption.
How to get 100% vitamin E?
Eat vitamin E foods with a little fat. Adult women need 7mg a day and men 10mg: a 30g handful of almonds gives about 7.5mg, and a tablespoon of sunflower oil about 5mg. Add avocado, spinach, capsicum and Kakadu plum, and most people meet their daily need from food.
What depletes your vitamin E?
Anything that stops you absorbing fat, because vitamin E needs dietary fat to be absorbed. Very low-fat diets and conditions that affect fat absorption are the main causes. Vitamin E is also used up as it protects your cells from free radicals, which is why vitamin C, which recharges it, helps it go further.
What blocks vitamin E absorption?
A lack of fat in the meal is the most common reason. Vitamin E is fat-soluble, so eating it with some fat, like olive oil, nuts or avocado, improves absorption, while conditions that affect fat digestion reduce it.
Why should people over 50 not take vitamin E?
This is about high-dose supplements, not food. Very high doses over long periods have been linked to blood-thinning effects and can interact with anticoagulant medicines, which more people over 50 take. Vitamin E from food hasn’t been linked to these effects. If you take any medication, check with your doctor before starting a high-dose supplement.
What happens if you take vitamin E every day?
At food amounts, daily vitamin E is safe and well tolerated. The concerns are only at very high supplement doses, above 300mg a day over long periods. Food-sourced vitamin E hasn’t been linked to them.
What is vitamin E good for?
Vitamin E contributes to cell protection from free radical damage. It’s a fat-soluble antioxidant that protects the fats in your cell membranes, and your body can store it, so you don’t need it every day the way you need vitamin C.
How much vitamin E per day?
In Australia, 10mg a day for adult men and 7mg for adult women, rising to 11mg while breastfeeding (NHMRC Nutrient Reference Values).
Why does your Kakadu plum powder include the seed?
Because you get both: the fruit and the seed kernel in every capsule. The fruit brings the vitamin C and vitamin E. The seed adds 32% protein and much more zinc, copper, manganese and iron than the fruit flesh.
Kakadu plum nutrition, nutrient by nutrient →
Sources
- Konczak I, Zabaras D, Dunstan M et al. Health Benefits of Australian Native Foods. RIRDC (Australian Government) Pub. No. 09/133, September 2009.
- National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements. Vitamin E: Health Professional Fact Sheet.
- Food Standards Australia New Zealand, Standard 1.2.7: Nutrition, Health and Related Claims.
- NHMRC Nutrient Reference Values for Australia and New Zealand: vitamin E.
- Seed kernel composition: the Kakadu plum seed.
Our products are food, not therapeutic goods, and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease or condition.