A study of 6,000 Australian women found those who ate fruit were less likely to have depression.

Eating at least two pieces of fruit a day can lower your risk of depression, a study suggests.

"We found that women who ate at least two servings of fruit a day were less likely to suffer from depression than women who ate fewer servings," University of Queensland professor Gita Mishra said.

However, she said researchers had not found a link between vegetable intake and depression.

"More research is needed on the different effects of fruit and vegetables, but this may be because fruit has higher levels of anti-inflammatory compounds and antioxidants, such as resveratrol, which is not found in vegetables," Prof Mishra said.

The researchers surveyed 6000 participants in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health.

AAP.