In this article
- Fresh mulberries, measured out
- Dried mulberries fiber: where it concentrates
- How mulberry fruit fiber compares with other berries
- Dried mulberries against other dried fruit
- Antioxidant support from dark mulberries
- Mulberries and digestion
- Mulberry nutrition beyond fiber
- Why the iron in mulberries is worth noticing
- A fresh berry bowl, done two ways
- Fresh or dried: a simple way to choose
- Buying and using dried mulberries
- What people ask about mulberries and fiber
- Sources
Mulberries look like blackberries, so it’s easy to assume they deliver the same fiber. They don’t, at least not fresh: a cup of fresh mulberries has about 2.4 grams of fiber, less than a third of what the same cup of blackberries gives you.
The surprise comes in the snack aisle. A quarter cup of dried mulberries holds about 5 grams, which puts mulberries fiber ahead of dried figs, prunes and dates for the same scoop.
Fresh mulberries, measured out
USDA FoodData Central lists raw mulberries with these values:
| Amount | Calories | Fiber | % Daily Value | Total sugars |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1/2 cup (70 g) | 30 | 1.2 g | 4% | 5.7 g |
| 1 cup (140 g) | 60 | 2.4 g | 9% | 11.3 g |
| 100 grams | 43 | 1.7 g | 6% | 8.1 g |
Against the FDA’s fiber Daily Value of 28 grams, a full cup covers less than a tenth. That’s on the low side for a berry.
Fresh mulberries are also mostly water, about 88% by weight. The sugar runs higher than the fiber by nearly five to one, which is why ripe ones taste so sweet.
Dried mulberries fiber: where it concentrates
Drying removes most of that water, and the fiber stays behind in a much smaller package. Two organic dried mulberry products in USDA’s branded food database list:
| Product, 1/4 cup (40 g) | Calories | Fiber | Total sugars | Iron | Protein |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greenwise Dried Mulberries | 120 | 5 g (18% DV) | 22 g | 5.1 mg (28% DV) | 4 g |
| Whole Foods Market Organic Sun Dried Mulberries | 110 | 5 g (18% DV) | 19 g | 4.5 mg (25% DV) | 4 g |
Both labels list mulberries as the only ingredient, with no added sugar declared. The sugar you see comes from the fruit itself, now squeezed into a smaller weight.
Per 100 grams, the Whole Foods product works out to 12.5 grams of fiber, against 1.7 grams for fresh berries. Calories rise too, from 43 to 275, so a handful adds up faster than a bowl of fresh fruit.
The iron figure stands out. A quarter cup supplies about a quarter of the 18 mg Daily Value, a lot for a fruit snack.
Curious how a quarter cup of dried berries fits your day? Our fiber calculator works out a personal fiber target in a few seconds.
How mulberry fruit fiber compares with other berries
Cup for cup, fresh mulberries trail most common berries. Dietary Guidelines and USDA figures line up like this:
| Berry, 1 cup | Calories | Fiber | Fiber per 100 calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raspberries | 64 | 8.0 g | 12.5 g |
| Blackberries | 62 | 7.6 g | 12.3 g |
| Cranberries, chopped | 51 | 4.0 g | 7.8 g |
| Blueberries | 84 | 3.6 g | 4.3 g |
| Strawberries | 49 | 3.0 g | 6.1 g |
| Mulberries | 60 | 2.4 g | 4.0 g |
Raspberries carry more than three times the fiber of mulberries for about the same calories. If fiber is the main goal for a bowl of fresh berries, raspberries or blackberries do more of the work.
Mulberries still bring something the others don’t match. A cup of fresh mulberries provides about 2.6 mg of iron, roughly 14% of the Daily Value, along with more than half your vitamin C.
Dried mulberries against other dried fruit
The story flips once you compare dried fruit by the quarter cup:
| Dried fruit, 1/4 cup | Calories | Fiber |
|---|---|---|
| Dried mulberries | 110 to 120 | 5 g |
| Dried figs | 93 | 3.7 g |
| Prunes | 105 | 3.1 g |
| Dates | 104 | 3.0 g |
| Dried blueberries | 127 | 3.0 g |
Dried mulberries come out on top, with about a third more fiber than dried figs. They also beat dried blueberries by 2 grams while carrying fewer calories.
Prunes have a strong reputation for regularity, yet a quarter cup of dried mulberries gives more fiber than a quarter cup of prunes. That makes them a useful swap in trail mix or on oatmeal.
Antioxidant support from dark mulberries
Dark mulberries get their deep purple color from anthocyanins, pigments that act as antioxidants in plants. A 2022 study in the journal Antioxidants measured 20 black mulberry genotypes grown in Turkey.
Total anthocyanins ranged from about 51 to 71 mg per 100 grams of fresh fruit. The main flavonoid was rutin, and the main phenolic acid was chlorogenic acid.
The fruit showed strong antioxidant activity in lab tests, and the levels varied noticeably from one genotype to the next. Those tests measure activity in a test tube, so they show what the fruit contains rather than proving a health effect inside the body.
The study looked only at black mulberries. Several dried products in USDA’s database are labeled as white mulberries, a type this research didn’t cover.
Mulberries and digestion
Fiber helps keep digestion regular, and Cleveland Clinic suggests aiming for 18 to 30 grams a day, along with extra water, to help prevent constipation. Fresh mulberries supply the water easily, at about 123 grams per cup, but only a small slice of the fiber.
Dried mulberries reverse that balance. A quarter cup supplies 5 grams of fiber with very little water, so it helps to drink a glass alongside them.
Pairing the two forms works well. Half a cup of fresh mulberries topped with 2 tablespoons of dried ones gives you roughly 3.7 grams of fiber and plenty of moisture in one bowl.
If you’re building more fiber into your meals to stay regular, our gut health guides walk you through an easy routine.
Mulberry nutrition beyond fiber
Fresh mulberries are a strong source of vitamin C. Per USDA, a cup (140 grams) supplies:
- Vitamin C: about 51 mg, roughly 57% of the 90 mg Daily Value.
- Iron: about 2.6 mg, roughly 14% of the 18 mg Daily Value.
- Vitamin K: about 11 micrograms, roughly 9% of the 120 microgram Daily Value.
- Potassium: about 272 mg, roughly 6% of the Daily Value.
- Protein: about 2 grams.
Vitamin C also helps your body absorb the type of iron found in plant foods, according to the NIH. That makes a cup of mulberries a neat pairing of both nutrients in one fruit.
Why the iron in mulberries is worth noticing
Plant foods contain nonheme iron, the form your body absorbs less readily than the heme iron in meat and seafood. The NIH Office of Dietary Supplements puts iron absorption from vegetarian diets at about 5% to 12%.
Because of that gap, the NIH says people who follow vegetarian diets need 1.8 times as much iron as people who eat meat. That makes a fruit with a meaningful amount of iron worth knowing about.
Fresh mulberries bring both halves of the equation: the iron and the vitamin C that improves its absorption. Dried mulberries carry more iron per handful, so pairing them with a vitamin C food, such as an orange or a few strawberries, follows the same idea.
The NIH also notes that phytate and some polyphenols can reduce nonheme iron absorption. That doesn’t make those foods a problem, but it’s one more reason to keep a vitamin C source on the same plate.
A fresh berry bowl, done two ways
Picture a bowl made with a full cup of fresh mulberries. It comes to 60 calories and 2.4 grams of fiber, sweet but light on fiber.
Now split the bowl: half a cup of mulberries and half a cup of raspberries. You land at about 5.2 grams of fiber for roughly 62 calories, more than double the fiber for two extra calories.
Add 2 tablespoons of dried mulberries on top and the bowl reaches about 7.7 grams. That’s a little over a quarter of the Daily Value from fruit alone, while keeping most of the mulberry flavor.
Fresh or dried: a simple way to choose
Both forms have a place, and the choice comes down to what you want from them:
- If you want volume and vitamin C for few calories, pick fresh mulberries. A cup is 60 calories and covers more than half your vitamin C.
- If you want fiber and iron in a small handful, pick dried mulberries. A quarter cup gives about 5 grams of fiber and a quarter of your iron.
- If you’re watching calories closely, measure dried mulberries rather than eating from the bag, since 1/4 cup already carries 110 to 120 calories.
- If you want the most fiber per bowl of fresh berries, mix mulberries with raspberries rather than eating them alone.
Buying and using dried mulberries
Start with the ingredient list. Both products in the table above contain only mulberries, so there’s no reason to accept added sugar or oil in a bag of dried ones.
Use the fiber line as a benchmark too. Both labels show 5 grams per quarter cup, so you can compare any other brand against that figure.
In the kitchen, dried mulberries slot in wherever you’d use dates, prunes or raisins. Stir them into trail mix, scatter 2 tablespoons over yogurt or oatmeal for about 2.5 grams of fiber, or fold them into muffin batter, and keep a glass of water nearby since the fruit has lost most of its own.
Want more ways to use dried berries in breakfasts and snacks? Our recipe eBooks are full of high fiber ideas.
What people ask about mulberries and fiber
Are mulberries high in fiber?
Fresh mulberries are not. A cup has about 2.4 grams, roughly 9% of the Daily Value, but dried mulberries have about 5 grams per quarter cup.
Do dried mulberries have more fiber than fresh?
Yes, by weight. Drying removes water, so dried mulberries carry about 12.5 grams of fiber per 100 grams versus 1.7 grams for fresh.
Are dried mulberries better than prunes for fiber?
Yes, per quarter cup. Dried mulberries give about 5 grams compared with 3.1 grams for prunes.
Do mulberries have antioxidants?
Yes. A 2022 study of black mulberries found 51 to 71 mg of anthocyanins per 100 grams of fresh fruit, along with rutin and chlorogenic acid.
Are mulberries good for digestion?
They can help, especially dried. A quarter cup of dried mulberries supplies about 18% of the fiber Daily Value.
How much iron is in mulberries?
A cup of fresh mulberries has about 2.6 mg, and a quarter cup of dried mulberries has about 4.5 to 5.1 mg.
How many calories are in dried mulberries?
About 110 to 120 calories per quarter cup, based on two organic brands in USDA’s database.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. “Mulberries, raw (169913); Greenwise Dried Mulberries (2398184); Whole Foods Market Organic Sun Dried Mulberries (2052110).” FoodData Central. 2026. fdc.nal.usda.gov
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration. “Daily Value on the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels.” 2024. www.fda.gov
- U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. “Food Sources of Dietary Fiber.” Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020 to 2025. www.dietaryguidelines.gov
- Skrovankova S, Ercisli S, Ozkan G, et al. “Diversity of Phytochemical and Antioxidant Characteristics of Black Mulberry (Morus nigra L.) Fruits from Turkey.” Antioxidants. 2022. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Cleveland Clinic. “Constipation.” 2023. my.clevelandclinic.org
- National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements. “Iron: Fact Sheet for Health Professionals.” 2025. ods.od.nih.gov
