Used to build cell membranes and the neurotransmitter acetylcholine.
Every figure here is per 100 g of the food, not per serving. That makes foods comparable to each other, but it is not how anyone eats: 100 g of a dried spice and 100 g of a leafy green are very different portions, so a high position in this list does not tell you what a meal contributes.
Nutrient values are per 100 g of the USDA reference entry named on this page and vary with variety, growing conditions, storage and preparation.
% DV compares the per-100 g amount with the FDA Daily Value of 550 mg for adults and children aged 4 and over. It is a labelling reference, not a personal target.
24 entries with a measured choline value, highest first.
Gallus gallus domesticus
The fat-soluble half of the egg, carrying essentially all of its fat, cholesterol, fat-soluble vitamins, choline and carotenoid…
149% of the Daily Value per 100 g
Bos taurus
The metabolic and storage organ of cattle, and consequently one of the most nutrient-concentrated foods in the human diet by a…
61% of the Daily Value per 100 g
Gallus gallus domesticus
A complete package of protein, fat and micronutrients built to grow a chick, split between a protein-and-water white and a…
53% of the Daily Value per 100 g
Gallus gallus domesticus
A small, soft organ meat with a milder flavour and finer texture than beef liver, which is why it dominates pâtés and parfaits.…
35% of the Daily Value per 100 g
Glycine max
The legume behind tofu, soy milk, tempeh and miso, eaten either as mature dry beans or as edamame, the immature green pod…
21% of the Daily Value per 100 g
Cicer arietinum
A pulse eaten whole, ground into gram flour, or blended into hummus, with the large kabuli and small desi types differing in seed…
18% of the Daily Value per 100 g
Lens culinaris
Flat pulses sold whole or split, and the only common legume that cooks from dry without soaking. The USDA reference entry is for…
18% of the Daily Value per 100 g
Gallus gallus domesticus
The pectoral muscle of the chicken, made up largely of fast-twitch fibres, which is why it is pale and low in fat compared with…
16% of the Daily Value per 100 g
Engraulis encrasicolus
Tiny oily fish usually sold salt-cured and packed in oil, where months of curing dissolves the flesh into an intensely savoury…
15% of the Daily Value per 100 g
Penaeus spp.
Decapod crustaceans, the most traded seafood in the world by value and now largely farmed. Their shells contain astaxanthin bound…
15% of the Daily Value per 100 g
Sus scrofa domesticus
A small muscle running along the inside of the spine that does almost no work, making it the leanest and most tender cut on the…
15% of the Daily Value per 100 g
Linum usitatissimum
The seed of the flax plant, sold whole, ground or pressed for oil, and the densest common dietary source of plant lignans. The…
14% of the Daily Value per 100 g
Salmo salar
The great majority of salmon sold worldwide, raised in sea pens on formulated feed. It is consistently fattier than wild salmon,…
14% of the Daily Value per 100 g
Sardina pilchardus
Small schooling fish canned whole with their soft, edible bones intact. Being short-lived plankton feeders low in the food chain,…
14% of the Daily Value per 100 g
Soybeans fermented with Aspergillus oryzae koji, salt and usually a grain, for anywhere from weeks to years. Longer ferments…
13% of the Daily Value per 100 g
Chenopodium quinoa
A pseudocereal seed from a plant related to spinach and beet, cooked and used as a grain. The USDA reference entry is for the…
13% of the Daily Value per 100 g
Phaseolus vulgaris
A common bean variety whose dark seed coat carries anthocyanin pigments, staple across Latin America and the Caribbean. The USDA…
12% of the Daily Value per 100 g
Bos taurus
Beef trimmings ground to a uniform texture and sold by lean-to-fat ratio, most commonly between 70% and 95% lean. The ratio is…
12% of the Daily Value per 100 g
Phaseolus vulgaris
The large red-skinned variety of the common bean, and the one carrying the highest concentration of the toxic lectin…
12% of the Daily Value per 100 g
Gadus morhua
A large cold-water groundfish with lean, flaky white flesh that stores its oil in the liver rather than the muscle. That anatomy…
12% of the Daily Value per 100 g
Mytilus edulis
Rope- or bottom-grown bivalves that need no feed input, making them one of the lowest-impact animal foods produced. They open…
12% of the Daily Value per 100 g
Crassostrea virginica
Filter-feeding bivalve molluscs, farmed and wild-harvested, whose flavour tracks the water they grew in closely enough that…
12% of the Daily Value per 100 g
Scomber scombrus
A fast-swimming oily fish with dark, strongly flavoured flesh that spoils quickly and is therefore often smoked or canned. It is…
12% of the Daily Value per 100 g
Cucurbita pepo
The hulled green kernels of certain pumpkin and squash varieties, eaten raw or roasted. The USDA reference entry is for the dried…
11% of the Daily Value per 100 g