The Nutrition Value of Canned Pears

You need at least two servings of fruits per day to stay healthy. Although fresh fruits are important sources of vitamins, minerals and fiber, canned fruits are a convenient alternative, and eating canned pears helps you fulfill your daily fruit requirement. When shopping for canned pears, look at the packing liquid before making your choice. Water- or juice-packed pears tend to be healthier than pears packed in heavy syrup.

Calories

Pears have a relatively high water content, meaning that they are not very energy dense. A 100-gram serving of canned pears packed in water contains 29 calories. An equivalent serving of pears packed in heavy syrup contain 74 calories. A 100-gram serving is a little less than 1/2 cup of canned pears.

Fat

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Canned pears differ in fat content depending on the liquid used to pack them. Water-packed pears contain very little fat, with only 0.03 gram of fat per 100 grams of pears. Pears packed in heavy syrup contain almost four times as much fat, at 0.13 gram per serving.

Sugar

Pears naturally contain the sugar molecules glucose and fructose. The total sugar content of water-packed pears is 6.1 grams per serving. A serving of pears in heavy syrup contains over 15 grams of sugar. This makes a serving of canned pears in syrup much less healthy than those packed in water or juice.

Vitamins and Minerals

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Canned pears contain small amounts of vitamins and minerals. The pears contain about 1 gram of vitamin C, 0.2 milligram of iron, 53 milligrams of potassium and 4 milligrams of calcium. Canned pears also contain trace amounts of magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, copper, manganese and other minerals. Pears packed in syrup and water contain roughly equivalent amounts of these vitamins and minerals.

Fiber

Dietary fiber improves gastrointestinal regularity, lowers cholesterol and reduces your risk of heart disease. One serving of canned pears contains 1.6 grams of fiber. If you eat 2,000 calories per day, you should aim for 28 grams of fiber daily 1. Eating canned pears can help you reach that goal.