Folate-rich foods: what they contain and why folate matters
Folate (vitamin B9) functions as an essential coenzyme in single-carbon transfer reactions required for nucleic acid synthesis and amino acid metabolism [WHO]. It participates in the remethylation of homocysteine to methionine and is necessary for normal cellular division and erythrocyte production [ICMR-NIN].
Last reviewed: 2026-09-05
How much folate is in common foods
Values are µg of total folate per 100 g edible portion.
| Food | Folate per 100 g | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Mung beans (moong), mature seeds (dry raw) | 625 µg | USDA |
| Chicken liver (pan-fried) | 578 µg | USDA |
| Chickpeas (Bengal gram / chana), mature seeds (dry raw) | 557 µg | USDA |
| Pinto beans, mature seeds (dry raw) | 525 µg | USDA |
| Lentils, mature seeds (dry raw) | 479 µg | USDA |
| Black beans, mature seeds (dry raw) | 444 µg | USDA |
| Kidney beans (rajma), mature seeds (dry raw) | 394 µg | USDA |
| Soybeans, mature seeds (dry raw) | 375 µg | USDA |
| Peanuts (groundnuts) (raw) | 240 µg | USDA |
| Sunflower seed kernels (dried) | 227 µg | USDA |
| Spinach (palak) (raw) | 194 µg | USDA |
| Mustard greens (sarson) (raw) | 187 µg | USDA |
| Lentils, mature seeds (boiled) | 181 µg | USDA |
| Chickpeas (Bengal gram / chana), mature seeds (boiled) | 172 µg | USDA |
| Mung beans (moong), mature seeds (boiled) | 159 µg | USDA |
| Amaranth leaves (chaulai) (raw) | 149 µg | ICMR-NIN |
| Asparagus (boiled) | 149 µg | USDA |
| Kidney beans (rajma), mature seeds (boiled) | 130 µg | USDA |
| Beetroot (raw) | 109 µg | USDA |
| Broccoli (boiled) | 108 µg | USDA |
| Walnuts, English (raw) | 98 µg | USDA |
| Sesame seeds (whole, dried) | 97 µg | USDA |
| Avocado (raw) | 89 µg | USDA |
| Flaxseeds (dried) | 87 µg | USDA |
| Fenugreek leaves (methi) (raw) | 84 µg | ICMR-NIN |
| Wheat flour, whole grain (dry) | 44 µg | USDA |
| Egg, chicken (hard-boiled) | 44 µg | USDA |
| Orange (raw) | 30 µg | USDA |
Folate and your blood test
Serum folate is measured when a doctor is looking into anaemia or red-cell changes. If you have a lab report, ReadMyReport explains what your folate result means for you.
Frequently asked questions
- How does cooking affect the folate concentration in foods?
- Naturally occurring food folates are water-soluble and heat-sensitive. Prolonged boiling of green leafy vegetables and legumes leads to thermal degradation and leaching into cooking water, resulting in documented folate losses between 20% and 50% [USDA].
- What is the structural difference between natural food folate and folic acid?
- Natural food folate consists of reduced polyglutamate forms, whereas folic acid is a synthetic, oxidized monoglutamate form utilized in grain fortification and dietary supplements [WHO].
- How is dietary folate absorbed in the digestive tract?
- Before absorption in the proximal jejunum, naturally occurring dietary polyglutamates must be hydrolyzed into monoglutamates by the brush-border enzyme folylpoly-gamma-glutamate carboxypeptidase [WHO].
- How does cooking change the folate content of spinach?
- Raw spinach contains 194 µg of total folate per 100 g, whereas boiled, drained spinach contains 146 µg per 100 g due to heat sensitivity and water solubility [USDA].
- What biological processes require folate coenzymes?
- Tetrahydrofolate derivatives serve as essential one-carbon donors and acceptors in the de novo biosynthesis of purines and thymidylate required for DNA replication, as well as the remethylation of homocysteine to methionine [ICMR-NIN].
- Why does the folate content per 100 g differ between raw and cooked chickpeas?
- Raw mature chickpeas contain 557 µg of folate per 100 g, while boiled chickpeas contain 172 µg per 100 g, primarily because dried legumes absorb substantial water during cooking, which reduces nutrient density per unit mass alongside minor thermal degradation [USDA].
Sources
- USDA FoodData Central — USDA FoodData Central, Agricultural Research Service. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/
- ICMR-NIN — Indian Food Composition Tables 2017, National Institute of Nutrition. https://www.nin.res.in/
- WHO — World Health Organization — Serum and red blood cell folate concentrations, 2015. https://www.who.int/