Fruits are naturally sweet because they want to be eaten! This is part of the survival strategy of the plant — fruits are eaten and digested, then the seeds are “spread” by wild animals, birds, and insects. The point at which fruit is harvested can also affect sweetness. Many fruits are harvested before they are fully ripe, as they can be transported and stored for longer.

For example, if a fruit contains a high proportion of fructose, it will taste sweeter than one that is mostly sucrose. It is these sugars that give fruits their sweetness, but recently scientists have discovered that other flavor compounds can also add to the sensation of sweetness. Steviol glycoside, derived from the stevia plant, has become extremely popular as a 'natural' alternative to traditional sweeteners. As well as having zero calories, it has even been thought to help treat high blood pressure and decrease blood sugar for people with type 2 diabetes. Fruit Flavoured Sweets are popular amongst sweet lovers of all ages, however you might find that the oldies prefer the hard boiled variety of fruit sweets, whereas the youngsters favour the chewy kind. At Keep It Sweet we love them all. Even a slight variation in temperature, humidity, and sunlight levels can affect the sugar levels within a fruit.Even within an individual variety of fruit, we can get variations in sweetness depending on external factors.

Every type of fruit has very specific environmental conditions that must be met to enable the fruit to reach its maximum sweetness levels. This means you can get a fruit with low levels of sugar that actually taste sweeter than a variety that is high in sugar! If you’re intrigued to learn more about the very sweetest fruits, and how that compares to their actual sugar level, we’ve got everything you need to know right here! The distance fruit has traveled can also make a difference to the levels of sweetness. Locally grown fruit will have been ripened on the plant or tree, as it only needs to travel a short distance to the store.Sugar alcohols like maltitol, xylitol, erythritol, isomalt and sorbitol appear naturally in food and are kinder to teeth than table sugar as they don't cause tooth decay. Xylitol, in particular, may even help prevent tooth decay and reduce infection and is often used in oral health products like toothpaste. It has about a third of the calorie content of sugar. Please note that these are ranked according to their sugar levels, not according to how sweet they may taste. Rank