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What Fruits, Grains & Vegetables Do Parabens Occur In?

Mostly associated with use in the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industry, parabens, or a group of chemical esters of p-hydroxybenzoic acid, act as preservatives to inhibit growth of organisms in various products. The most common parabens are methyl, ethyl, propyl and butylparabens. Parabens vary in solubility and potency and are usually combined with one another. While parabens have been linked to breast cancer, they occur in nature in a variety of fruits, vegetables and grains.

  1. Carrot, Olive, Cucumber

    • Several common fruits and vegetables such as the carrot, olive and cucumber produce parabens as a defensive chemical against microorganisms, according to several studies in plant physiology in 1993, 1998 and 2003.

    Granadilla & Thale Cress

    • Plants that produce methyl parabens include granadilla, birthwort, guan pepper and coprophilous fungus. Granadilla is a fruit native to South America with a hard shell and gelatinous pulp surrounding the black seeds. Thale cress is another methyl paraben producer, but it is a weed that has been studied for its genetic potential rather than eaten.

    Mango, Verticillium

    • Among propyl parabens producers are mango and verticillium. The latter is a filamentous fungus that can attack cultivated plants.

    Cloudberry

    • The cloudberry produces both methyl and propyl parabens. Additionally, the Scandinavian berry contains benzoic acid, sorbic acid, salicylic acid and 2-hydroxybenzoic acid, which make this fruit particularly resistant to spoilage.

    Vanilla

    • Tahitian vanilla extract was found to contain methyl paraben as one of its four flavor components. However, Bourbon vanilla did not.

    Barley

    • The paraben 4-hydroxybenzoic acid is found widely in grains such as barley, fruits such as strawberries, peaches and black currants, as well as vegetables like the onion. One study examined 122 plant species and found the paraben in all of them, while another study concluded that this aromatic organic acid is the most widely distributed in the vegetable kingdom.

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