Dietary fiber refers to cell wall components in plants. All plants (including vegetables, fruits, cereal grains) contain fiber. However, the fiber content varies depending on the species, time of harvest, storage, climatic condition the plant was grown, etc.
Generally, vegetables, fruits or any plant parts harvested at early stage of development have lower fiber content than when harvested at later stage. The earlier the plant part is harvested the lower the fiber content is. Also the younger the vegetable, fruit, or plant part in general, the more is the soluble fiber fraction than the insoluble fiber fraction.
If one must totally avoid fiber from their diet, these are zero fiber foods:
- Meat: pork, beef, lamb
- Fish, all types
- Egg and egg products
- Processed products such as ice-creams, puddings
- Water, beverages (except some juices) and alcoholic drinks
- Milk and milk products (cheeses)
- Syrups (corn, malt, maple)
Low fiber diet can also be attained, obviously, by simply reducing the daily proportion of plant origin foods in the diet.
To give you a perspective, food products can have total fiber content as high as 79 g fiber/100g food (crude corn bran) or 42.80 g fiber /100g food (crude wheat bran). For more, check this high fiber foods list.
Below is a chart containing a list of low fiber foods (fruits, vegetables, legumes and nuts, and juices), with less than 5 grams fiber per 100 gram food, in a descending order.
Low Fiber Foods (2 - 5g/100g)
| Dietary fiber sources | Fiber content (g/100 g edible food portion) |
| Couscous, dry | 5.00 |
| Rice flour, brown | 4.80 |
| Broadbeans, immature seeds, raw | 4.20 |
| Hemp seeds, hulled | 4.00 |
| Squash, winter, hubbard, raw | 3.90 |
| Grapes, muscadine, raw | 3.90 |
| Brussels sprout, raw | 3.80 |
| Mushrooms, chanterelle, raw | 3.80 |
| Seeds, pumpkin and squash seed kernels, roasted, with salt added | 3.88 |
| Beet greens, raw | 3.70 |
| Pine nuts, raw | 3.70 |
| Cranberries, raw | 3.60 |
| Cashew nuts, raw | 3.30 |
| Cauliflower, green, raw | 3.20 |
| Okra, raw | 3.20 |
| Turnip greens, raw | 3.20 |
| Broccoli, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt | 3.24 |
| Pears, raw | 3.10 |
| Cabbage, savoy, raw | 3.10 |
| Chicory, witloof, raw | 3.10 |
| Endive, raw | 3.10 |
| Fennel, bulb, raw | 3.10 |
| Waterchestnuts, chinese, (matai), raw | 3.00 |
| Eggplant, raw | 3.00 |
| Kiwifruit, green, raw | 3.00 |
| Carrots, baby, raw | 2.90 |
| Figs, raw | 2.90 |
| Beets, raw | 2.80 |
| Carrots, raw | 2.80 |
| Mushrooms, morel, raw | 2.80 |
| Mustard spinach, (tendergreen), raw | 2.80 |
| Beans, snap, green, raw | 2.70 |
| Corn, sweet, white, raw | 2.70 |
| Mushrooms, enoki, raw | 2.70 |
| Mushrooms, maitake, raw | 2.70 |
| Banana, raw | 2.60 |
| Broccoli, raw | 2.60 |
| Peas, edible-podded, raw | 2.60 |
| Cabbage, raw | 2.50 |
| Chives, raw | 2.50 |
| Mushrooms, shiitake, raw | 2.50 |
| Mountain yam, hawaii, raw | 2.50 |
| Potatos, raw, skin | 2.50 |
| Blueberries, raw | 2.40 |
| Oranges, raw, Florida | 2.40 |
| Potatoes, white, flesh and skin, raw | 2.40 |
| Mushrooms, oyster, raw | 2.30 |
| Plantains, green, raw | 2.20 |
| Bamboo shoots, raw | 2.20 |
| Spinach, raw | 2.20 |
| Asparagus, raw | 2.10 |
| Cabbage, red, raw | 2.10 |
| Lettuce, cos or romaine, raw | 2.10 |
In the table above, low fiber foods containing 2 - 5 grams of fiber per 100 food edible portion were presented. Here is another list of fruits and vegetables containing fiber lower than 2 grams per 100 gram food.
Low Fiber Foods (<2g/100g)
| Dietary fiber sources | Fiber content (g/100 g edible food portion) |
| Apricots, raw | 2.00 |
| Strawberries, raw | 2.00 |
| Corn, sweet, yellow, raw | 2.00 |
| Squash, winter, butternut, raw | 2.00 |
| Alfalfa seeds, sprouted, raw | 1.90 |
| Tomatillos, raw | 1.90 |
| Cassava, raw | 1.80 |
| Leeks, (bulb and lower leaf-portion), raw | 1.80 |
| Turnips, raw | 1.80 |
| Papayas, raw | 1.70 |
| Onions, raw | 1.70 |
| Mangos, raw | 1.60 |
| Celery, raw | 1.60 |
| Radishes, raw | 1.60 |
| Arugula, raw | 1.60 |
| Peaches, yellow, raw | 1.50 |
| Chickory, roots, raw | 1.50 |
| Jackfruit, raw | 1.50 |
| Plums, raw | 1.40 |
| Kiwifruit, ZESPRI SunGold, raw | 1.40 |
| Mushrooms, portabella, raw | 1.30 |
| Lettuce, green leaf, raw | 1.30 |
| Seaweed, irishmoss or kelp, raw | 1.30 |
| Apples, raw, without skin | 1.27 |
| Tomatoes, red, ripe, raw, year round average | 1.22 |
| Cabbage, chinese (pe-tsai), raw | 1.20 |
| Lettuce, iceberg (includes crisphead types), raw | 1.20 |
| Squash, summer, scallop, raw | 1.20 |
| Cress, garden, raw | 1.10 |
| Grapefruit, white, raw | 1.10 |
| Tomatoes, green, raw | 1.10 |
| Squash, zucchini, baby, raw | 1.10 |
| Mushrooms, white, raw | 1.00 |
| Cabbage, chinese (pak-choi), raw | 1.00 |
| Tapioca, pearl, dry | 0.92 |
| Grapes, american type (slip skin), raw | 0.90 |
| Melons, cantaloupe or casaba, raw | 0.90 |
| Tomatoes, orange, raw | 0.90 |
| Melons, honeydew, raw | 0.80 |
| Watermelon, raw | 0.38 |
| Rice crackers | 0.0 |
| Syrups, (examples, maple, malt, corn) | 0.0 |
| Sugars | 0.0 |
| Candies | 0.0 |
Low fiber foods list source: USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 18 (2005).
Dietary fiber related links:
Total dietary fiber, soluble fiber, insoluble fiber content of foods
Definitions of dietary fiber food.
List of high fiber food: vegetables and fruits
List of low fiber foods
Dietary fiber: Recommended Daily Reference Intakes (DRIs, RDAs) for fiber