Durian

“King of Fruits”

By

Madhawa Wijayaratne

Introduction
• Durian is the Fruit of trees of the genus
Durio
• Name “Durian” comes from the Malay
word “Duri”, meaning "thorn“
• Durians are native to Southeastern Asia
• Durian is distinctive for its
– Large size
– Unique smell (odour)
– Formidable thorn-covered husk

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 Scientific Classification
• Kingdom: Plantae
• Division: Magnoliophyta
• Class: Magnoliopsida
• Order: Malvales
• Family: Malvaceae (Bombacaceae)
• Genus: Durio

Scientific Classification
• There are 30 recognized Durio species
• Nine of them produce edible fruit
1. Durio zibethinus
2. Durio dulcis
3. Durio grandiflorus
4. Durio graveolens
5. Durio kutejensis
6. Durio lowianus
7. Durio macrantha
8. Durio oxleyanus
9. Durio testudinarum
• Durio zibethinus is the only species available in the
international market
• Other species are sold in locally

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 Common Names in Languages
• English: Durian • Cambodia: Thu-réén

• Spanish: Durián, Durio • Laos: Thourièn

• Vietnam: Sâù riêng • Thailand: Thurian, Rian

• Philippines: Dulian • Indonesia: Duren,

Ambetan,
• Burma: Du-yin Kadu

History
• Durian is a very ancient and primitive fruit
• Durian has been known and consumed in Southeastern
Asia since prehistoric times
• Durian has only been known to the Western world for
about 600 years
• Earliest known European reference on the Durian
– Record of Nicolo Conti who traveled to Southeastern Asia in
15th century
– Garcia de Orta described Durians in “Colóquios dos Simples e
Drogas da India” in 1563
– German botanist Georgius Everhardus Rumphius’ published
“Herbarium Amboinense” In 1741
• Some botanists regard Durians as one of the first plants
to rely on animals for dispersal of its seeds

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 History
• Durian was introduced into
Sri Lanka by the Portuguese
in the 16th century
• Durian has been planted in
the Americas in 1884, but
confined to botanical
gardens
• The Association of Durian
Growers and Sellers was Durio zibethinus.
formed in 1959 to Chromolithograph by
standardize quality and Hoola Van Nooten, circa
marketing practices 1863.

Durian Flowers
• Durian flowers are strongly fragrant and having nectar
• 50-70 mm long and grow in clusters of 1 to 45 individual flowers per
cluster
• Flower clusters hang from the main and smaller branches, or directly
from the trunk of the tree.
• Period of 3 to 4 weeks of dry weather is needed to stimulate
flowering
• It takes about one month for a durian flower to develop from first
appearance as a tiny bud to an open blossom.
• Each flower has 5 sepals and 5 petals
• Colour of the flower matches the color of the edible pulp that will
develop inside the fruit;
– Yellowish petals produce yellow-fleshed Durians (the most common)
– White or Reddish petals will produce white or reddish fleshed Durians

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 Durian Flowers
• Durian flowers are normally open from around 3 p.m. to midnight
• Durian flowers are hermaphrodites, each having a stamen and pistil in the
same flower.
• Self-pollination rarely happens because the pistil and the stamen do not
appear at the same time.
• Durian flowers are primarily pollinated by Bats when they visited flowers for
nectar
• No evidence for any durian pollination happens via the wind
• It has been demonstrated that durian fruit-set will greatly increase by human
hand-pollination
• Usually only 1 or 2 durian fruit develop from each flower cluster

Durian Leaf
• leaves are about 8 - 20 cm long and 2.5-7.5 cm
wide
• Elliptic to oblong in shape
• Upper surface is shiny smooth, light or dark
green
• Bottom surface is somewhat scaly, sometimes
brown but more often with a golden shine.
• Leaves are folded at their mid-rib when they first
appear, then stretch out as they mature.

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 Durian Tree
• Durian propagated by seeds
or grafting.
• Seeds must be planted fresh,
as they lose viability quickly,
especially if allowed to dry
out.
• Trees started from seeds can
eventually reach up to 50 m in
height, with a trunk diameter
of 120 cm
• Durian trees started from seed
will have one primary taproot
going directly down from the
trunk and secondary roots
growing out from it.

Durian Tree
• Grafted trees are easy to spot,
they have a distinctive
characteristic shape like a large
Christmas tree, and the branches
grow out from the main trunk in
every direction.
• Unless pruned otherwise, in older
age grafted trees will eventually
grow into 40 – 70% tall form as
seedling trees
• If grown grafting, the tree will not
have a primary tap root; instead it
will have adventitious or
secondary roots growing directly
from the base of the trunk.

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 Durian Tree
• Generally lives for 80 to 150 years, but capable of living for centuries
• Older trees die due to damage by wind, lightning, disease
organisms, or humans
• Grafted trees begin to bear fruits in 4-5 years, while seedlings can
take 15 years or more
• Trees are considered young from 6 to 15 yrs, middle-aged from 15-
25 yrs and older after 25 yrs.
• Fruit production decreases in very old trees, but fruit quality tends to
noticeably increase with age, hence fruits from older trees are
expensive
• Fruit yield:
– 10 to 40 fruits for the first year of fruiting
– About 100 fruits for the sixth year of fruiting
– Up to 200 fruits is common after the 10th year of fruiting
– 10 to 15 tons fruits per hectare per year by 10 to 15 years after planting.

Cultivars
• Durian trees have a great inherent tendency towards genetic
diversity in every way
• This great tendency has contributed much to the durian’s appeal,
mystique, and success among humans
• Much of the fun and enjoyment for durian-lovers is the never-ending
adventure of new variations of flavor, aroma, appearance, and
texture
• Durian trees may vary in overall form, vigor and leaf size
• Durian flowers may vary in shape, size, color, fragrance, number of
blossoms per cluster and number of resulting fruit
• Durian fruit may vary in size, shape; rind color, thickness, spikiness;
aroma, texture and flavor
• Seed may vary in size, color, and number
• Over 300 varieties of durians are in Thailand, though only a half-
dozen or so are grown commercially.
• In Malaysia, there are 200 distinct varieties have officially registered
since the 1930’s.

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 Durian Fruit
• Durian fruit, matures in about 85
to 150 days after flower
pollination
• Fruit is round to oblong in shape,
greenish-or-yellowish-tan-brown
in colour and covered with sharp
spiny rind
• Rind is extremely tough and has
evolved so as to be able to fall to
the ground without major
damage to the fruit, unless it
lands on solid rock, from heights
as much as 40 m
• Rind splits into five segments
when ripe

Durian Fruit
• Durian fruits’ Weight commonly ranges from 2-5
kg, up to 8 kg is also possible.
• Thai varieties are generally the largest, as 200
mm long by 175 mm in diameter
• Fruits from Malaysia and most other regions are
usually smaller and lighter
• The weight of the fruit and its spiky armor make
a durian grove a hazardous place during
ripening season, unless the fruits have all been
pre-tied with strings or ropes to prevent their fall
to the ground, or large safety nets positioned to
catch them

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 Durian Fruit
• Edible sections of Durian
are technically called arils
• Aril is a fleshy outgrowth
of the seed’s own outer
covering
• Aril starts to form 4 weeks
after flower pollination; it
starts as a white sheet
then expands to cover the
whole seed

Durian Fruit
• Inside each fruit there are 5
compartments containing the
arils and 1 to 7 seeds of 2-6
cm long with glossy, red-brown
seedcoat
• The aril or pulp varies
extensively between cultivars
and different seedlings in
aroma, flavor, texture,
thickness, and color, usually
cream yellow to deep orange,
but also rarely in some
varieties white and even bright
red

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 Durian Fruit
• Durians from trees aged 50,
60 years and more have
enhanced qualities of
flavor, aroma, and texture
Fruit of young tree
• Fruits of older trees can be
identified visually by having
very wrinkled skin on the
fruit sections

Fruit of 38 yrs old tree

Durian Fruit
• Durians are highly
perishable. They are fully
ripe 2 to 4 days after
falling and lose eating
quality in 5 or 6 days
• The fruit is attractive to a
great variety of animals
and insects as well as
people, including
monkeys, gibbons,
orangutans, apes, birds,
dogs, pigs, rhinoceros,
bears, squirrels, tapirs,
deer, elephants, tigers,
and even the domestic
cat.

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 Odor/smell of Durian
• Sharp spiny rind, while the flesh
within emits a strong, distinctive
odor
• Some regard this as fragrant
while others find it overpowering
or offensive.
• This strong odor can be detected
half a mile away
• Raw fruit is forbidden from some
Sign forbidding durians
establishments because of its on Singapore's Mass
smell Rapid Transit.

Odor/smell of Durian
• Smell of Durian is a mixture of
– Unwashed socks
– Rotten fish
– City dump on a hot summer's day
– Carrion in custard
– Decayed onion
– Turpentine
– Garlic
• Travel and food writer Richard Sterling says:
"... its odor is best described as pig-shit, turpentine and
onions, garnished with a gym sock. It can be smelled
from yards away…”

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 Taste of Durian
• Taste of the Durian is a mixture of
– Custard
– Almonds
– Cream cheese
– Sherry wine
– Ice cream spices
– Bananas
• The British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace said:
"A rich custard highly flavored with almonds gives the best general
idea of it, but there are occasional wafts of flavor that call to mind
cream-cheese, onion-sauce, sherry-wine, and other incongruous
dishes. Then there is a rich glutinous smoothness in the pulp which
nothing else possesses, but which adds to its delicacy."

Climate Condition
• Soil: It grows best in fertile, deep soils with abundant organic matter
and a pH of 6-7
• Temperature: 25 -30 C; evenly distributed. The trees may survive
occasional changes in temperature as low as 10º C and as high as
46 C.
• Rainfall: 1,500 - 2000 mm. In drier zones can produce good crops
with appropriate irrigation
• Needs tropical warmth, abundant moisture, and sunshine to thrive
• If coconut can grow and bear well in some climate, except for
seaside areas (durians are not salt-tolerant), durians may be
possible too.
• Latitude: best within 15 degrees latitude of the equator. Also
possible within 18-22
• Altitude: Durian produces best from sea level to about 213 m
elevation, but is reported to fruit as high as 792 m in elevation.
Upper elevation limit for growing durians
– Sri Lanka - 600 m, Philippines - 700 m and Malaysia - 800 m

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 Seasons
• In Sri Lanka, Durian generally blooms in March
and April and the fruits mature in July and
August
• In areas near the equator where no defined wet
and dry seasons, like Malaysia and Sumatra,
individual trees commonly bear fruit twice a year,
with the peaks in June and December.
• In tropical areas with distinct wet and dry
seasons, ex. India and eastern Java, flowering
begins near the end of the dry season.
• In tropical areas farther than 10º north or south
from the equator, flowering normally starts in the
spring months, with an annual harvest in mid-
summer to autumn.

Durian Nutritional Characteristics

(average per 100 grams)

Calories 134-153 Carotene (Vit. A) 20-30 IU

Moisture 58-70 g Thiamin (Vit. B1) 0.20-0.28 mg

Protein 2.0-3.3 g Riboflavin (Vit. B2) 0.10-0.28 mg

Carbohydrates 30.0-36.1 g Niacin 0 .68-1.1 mg

Fat 1.2-4.3 g Vitamin C 23-62 mg

Calcium 7.4-18 mg Vitamin E "high"

Phosphorus 27-56 mg Trace minerals "many"

Iron 0.73-2.0 mg Mana (intangible life energy) "powerful"

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 Use of Durian
• Pulp is usually consumed fresh
• Durian is also used to flavor ice cream, cookies and candies
• Preserved by canning, freezing, drying, boiling with sugar,
fermenting, or salting
• Durian is also used to prepare sauces and relishes
• Seeds are edible, eaten after boiling, frying or roasting
• Young shoots and unripe fruit are cooked and eaten as a
vegetable
• The rinds can be dried and burned as fuel
• Food hung in the smoke gains a distinctive flavor
• Silk is sometimes bleached with the resulting ash in
Southeast Asia
• Durian wood is suitable for light construction, door and
window frames, wooden sandals, flooring, planking,
plywood, sliced veneer and furniture.

Medicinal Properties
• Parasitic worms are said to be expelled by eating durian
• Fevers are said to be reduced by drinking a tea of the
leaves and roots, or applying durian leaf juice to the
head
• Swellings and skin diseases are said to be healed by
applying a tea of the leaves and fruits
• People with high blood pressure or pregnant women are
traditionally advised not to consume durian
• Durian is not recommended for consuming with alcoholic
beverages, as the combination of natural substances is a
powerful producer of internal gas

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 Durian Production
• Commercial production is mostly in Thailand, Malaysia,
Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, southern India
and Northern Australia
• Relatively small numbers of the trees are found in
Jamaica, Honduras, Puerto Rico, Trinidad, and Hawaii
• Thailand is the largest commercial producer of durians
– Produced 927,194 tons in 1999, with approximately 137,649
hectares in cultivation
– About half of this total comes from Chanthaburi province, 240 km
east of Bangkok, which may be the durian capital of the world
– Large and luscious Monthong variety is revered by many people
as the best in the world.
– Durian is not native to Thailand, but introduced only in the late
18th century A.D
• Malaysians disdain the flavor of Thai durians as "flat"
and regard their own, smaller but more richly-flavored
varieties as the best.

How to select good Durians

• ASEAN Food Handling
Bureau, Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia, lists 9 ways to
detect the ripeness of a durian
1. In many varieties, the tips of the
spikes turn darker brown than the
bases of the spikes
2. Spike tips also become slightly
elastic and more flexible
3. Grooves between spikes expand
and turn darker
4. Depending on variety, the fruit
stem may become either more
stiff or more flexible than unripe
fruits

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 How to select good Durians
5. Abscission zone in the fruit stem just above the fruit
tends to bulge
6. Sutures in the rind where the sections will split apart
become more noticeable
7. When tapped fruit gives a hollow sound; when
shaken, the best fruits have a sound of something
moving inside, of fruit sections knocking shell
8. Sap from the fruit stem will be clear and sweet; in
unripe fruits, it is thick, sticky, and not sweet
9. If a small "window" into the fruit is cut to check out
the insides, the fragrance will be stronger and the
pulp more colorful than unripe fruits

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