Why You Can't Juice a Banana (And These 4 Other Fruits & Vegetables)

See why bananas and other types of fruits and vegetables are better left out of the juicer

Juicing fruits and vegetables has become an extremely popular way to pack concentrated nutrition into your diet. But while produce like carrots and apple juice wonderfully, some other firm favorites like bananas are better off in a smoothie.

So why can't you actually juice a banana or other popular picks?

The reason you can't juice a banana is that they contain low liquid and high starch content which means they break down into thick pulp and mush when subjected to juicing. Instead of drinkable nutrition, you'll end up with a gluey mess gumming up your appliance.

In this article, I'll elaborate on the specifics behind fruitless attempts to juice bananas and other types of fruits and veg that don't juice very well such as avocados, mangoes, strawberries, papayas, and leafy greens. Understanding why these problematic picks fail as juice ingredients will help you avoid disappointment and wasted effort.

I'll also suggest other types of fruits and vegetables that juice well that you may want to try in your next juicing recipe.

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Why You Can't Juice a Banana

Hands down the fruit I get asked about juicing the most is the humble banana. This staple is packed with potassium and makes smoothies deliciously creamy. But bananas lack the right structure to yield much liquid when pressed and pulverized.

The main reason you can't effectively juice bananas is their low liquid and high starch content. Banana flesh consists of about 75% water along with 20% carbs in the form of sugars and starch. Compared to over 90% water content in fruits like oranges and grapes, bananas lack enough fluid to produce substantial juice.

Additionally, the starch in bananas causes their pulp to become gummy and glue-like when mashed. So instead of free-flowing juice, you'll end up with a thick banana paste cementing up your juicer.

I like to tell customers that putting a banana in a juicer is akin to squeezing a glue stick for juice - it just isn't going to work.

If you try to juice a banana, at best you may get a few tablespoons of starchy liquid and mush. But mostly you'll be left scrubbing congealed banana goo out of your expensive appliance.

So what should you do instead with bananas? Blend them into smoothies, bake them into muffins, or slice them onto peanut butter sandwiches. But I beg you - please keep the bananas far away from your juicer!

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1. Avocados Aren't Great for Juicing Either

Avocados have surged in popularity recently, becoming the toast-topper darling of the health world. Their rich, creamy texture lends itself perfectly to smoothies and dips. But like bananas, you'll run into issues trying to juice avocados.

The two main factors limiting avocado juicing are:

1. Low Moisture Content

A ripe avocado contains only about 73% water, even less than a banana. Their flesh is dominated by energy-dense oils and fibers rather than free-flowing fluids. So there's just not much juice available from the thick avocado pulp.

2. High Fat Content

Additionally, over 75% of the calories in avocados come from monounsaturated fats. While these are incredibly healthy fats, they do not break down well in juicers. You may end up with a low yield of avocado juice dripping through a sludge of separated fats and solids.

So the tiny bit of greenish avocado juice produced isn’t worth the messy clean-up job afterward.

Instead of trying to juice them, enjoy avocados in salads, toast, or my favorite way - whipped into creamy smoothie bowls! The rich texture makes them ideal smoothie ingredients. So blend them into ice cream-like treats rather than attempting extraction via juicing.

Related articles: 9 Tasty Smoothie Bases: The Best Liquids for Making Delicious Smoothies

2. Mangoes & Papayas Become Purees

Tropical fruits like juicy mangoes and sweet papayas also cannot be effectively juiced. Though different than bananas and avocados, these fruits still break down into pulpy purees rather than free-flowing juice.

Mangoes and papayas both have extremely soft, supple flesh and skins. So when churned and mashed in a juicer, their pulp completely disintegrates rather than releasing liquid.

You may get a splash of nectar and lots of smooth pulp, but a glass of mango or papaya juice is impossible through extraction alone. Their soft fibers cling together and must be actively separated via blending orstraining to access any moisture.

I get disappointed customers hoping for straight mango juice because they’ve seen mango juice beverages sold commercially. However, companies producing these use advanced mechanical methods to forcibly separate microscopic pulp from nectar. Home juicers simply cannot replicate the process efficiently.

So for the most part, mangoes and papayas turn to fruit puree when "juiced". Embrace their smooth textures by blending them into frozen treats, salad dressings, chutneys, and the like instead. But steer clear of subjecting them to home juicing unless you fancy a pulpy tropical mess.

Related articles: 20 Best Fruit Combinations For Delicious Smoothies

3. Strawberries Seed Up Your Juice

Few things scream summer refreshment quite like a handful of ripe, red strawberries. As the most popular berry fruit, strawberries get added into all manner of sweets and beverages. But the seeds and flesh that make them so deliciously unique also hampers easy juicing.

When dropped into your juicer, strawberries quickly turn from crisp fruits into mushy paste. Small seeds distributed throughout their flesh chop up and distribute throughout any extracted liquid as well.

The resulting strawberry "juice" is actually more of a sludgy pink goo dotted with errant seeds. No matter how fine your juicer strains, pulp and errant solids overwhelm any thin nectar produced. So strawberry juice ends up murky, gritty, and far from an enjoyable beverage.

Blending minimizes the textural issues of strawberry seeds and fibers instead. So for the smoothest results, throw your strawberries into a blender to mix up flavorful smoothies. Or leave them whole to adorn shortcakes and waffles to highlight their natural sweetness.

4. Kale & Spinach Should Be Reserved for Shots

Lastly, leafy greens like kale and spinach pose problems when juiced for different reasons. Tough greens simply don’t contain enough natural liquid to produce substantial juice volumes.

Hardy greens like kale have sturdy cell structures to maintain their architecture and texture. This gives them that delightful ruffled, crispy bite. But it also means their cells cling tightly onto internal moisture rather than releasing it when cut and crushed.

You need over two full bundles of leafy greens to generate one small glass of kale juice. And even then, what trickles out carries a bitter, vegetal flavor unpalatable to many.

Rather than expecting gallons of green goodness, approach leafies like kale as you would potent herbs or roots like ginger. Juice small amounts like a supplement or wellness shot to provide an intense blast of nutrients sans bulk liquid.

Or skip juicing kale completely and enjoy its crispness instead in salads, stir-fries, smoothies, and more. But attempting to juice bunches at a time will leave you awash in fibrous green pulp with little delicious nectar to show for it.

Related article: 15 Best Green Vegetables to Add to Your Smoothies

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What Fruits DO Juice Well?

Now that I've dashed dreams of juicing bananas, strawberries, and other problematic picks, let me offer some better options. If you want to create sweet fruity juices at home, these are the produce choices that will lead to success:

Citrus Fruits - Fruits like oranges, grapefruits, lemons, and limes are juicing superstars. Their thin skins and easily ruptured juicy spheres result in bountiful, flavorful nectar.

Grapes - Plump grapes quickly release gushes of sweet, mild juice perfect for mixing into all kinds of blends.

Carrots - Crunchy, sweet carrot juice easily into nutritious and delicious beverages.

Beetroot - Earthy beets yield a nutritious purple juice when juiced.

Cucumber - Cool, crisp cucumber juice to produce refreshing, hydrating drinks.

Melons - Watery fruits like honeydew, cantaloupe, and watermelon juice excellently into refreshing, gentle beverages.

Pineapples - Fibrous yet succulent pineapple flesh generates ample sweet tropical juice.

Apples & Pears - Crisp apples and soft pears give up their liquid easily upon crushing for versatile bases.

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Conclusion

Creating your own custom-blended juices allows you to mix and match nature’s bounty into nutritious beverages. But despite their stellar nutrition, some favorite fruits and vegetables fail fabulously when fed through a juicer.

Bananas, avocados, mangoes, and other soft, starch, or oil-rich picks transform into useless, gummed-up purees instead of drinkable juices you’d actually want to consume. And seedy strawberries or tough greens pose more mess and waste than they're worth for minimal yield.

Instead, stick to naturally water-rich produce like citrus fruits, pineapples, and melons. Process them using optimal extraction methods into phenomenally flavorful, ultra-fresh juices and smoothies.

I hope these insights help prevent common kitchen disasters involving fruitless attempts to juice anything and everything. Please drop that banana temptingly near your appliance and back slowly away! By understanding what simply doesn’t juice, you’ll set yourself up for refreshingly successful experiments mixing up nutritious beverages to fuel your days deliciously.

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About Author:

Gavin is the owner of Tru Foo Juice Bar. He has over 6 years of experience running a juice bar and creating juice and smoothie recipes for the consumer market

His passion for juicing began in his early 20s as he explored natural ways to boost nutrition and energy. Over the years, Gavin has experimented with countless ingredient combinations to create the perfect juice and smoothie blends and bring them to the masses.