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DURIAN
King of Tropical Fruits

A durian tree at Balung, Sabah

Balung 2005-08-14 SUN 15:21

Durian

A durian tree at Jalan Bunga Raya, Tawau

Jalan Bunga Raya 2019-07-21 SUN 15:04

Daniel Eat Durian Fruit
A whacky and fun durian page that can only come from fellow durian eater - lotsa high quality and large size graphics.
 

Phill Gibson's Durian Page
...yet another good durian page
 

Durian has many species.... Thai Durians, which contains a lot of flesh but lack in taste and Malay Durians generally smaller than Thai Durians but taste much more mellow and authentic.
Malaysian prefer the Malay durian more as the texture of the meat is smooth and creamy, even better than the best mousse.
The fragrance of this aromatic fruit is wonderful, the taste even better. When you put that rich, fruit meat into your mouth, you will feel a wonderful sensation going through your spine.
The fruit is so delicious that it is addictive, and it does not come cheap.

The durian has thorns covering its shell and is very hard. Its color is olive green and brownish.
The fruit itself is yellowish-white in color, a little bit like custard.


Scientific Name
Bombaceae Durio zibethinus L./Murr

Better known as:
Durian (Malaysia/Worldwide), Duren (Indonesia), Thurian (Thailand)

From:
South East Asia (Malaysia/Thailand/Indonesia, etc.)
Durian tree towering as high as 40m in the jungle rainforest or in semi-orchard.
Seed trees may take 8-10 years to fruit.
A grafted durian tree assumes a Christmas tree habit and grows to 15 - 20m tall.
The fruit is green to brown in color, pendulous, round to oblong in shape and is completely covered with strong sharp thorns.
It is a capsule which splits into five parts when ripe and each segment contains brown seeds covered with thick, firm, creamy, yellow pulp with an overpowering aroma.
Durian is native to Malaysia and Indonesia. In Malaysia about 50% of the total production is from Johore and Perak.  
Durian is normally propagated by budding.
In this method the rootstocks from selected seeds of available fruits are first planted in polythene bags.
The seedling rootstocks are allowed to reach about half a meter tall with stem size of 1 cm before they are ready for budding. Four month old seedlings are ideal because they permit good scion growth after the union.
Newly budded seedlings should be kept under a 75% shade graduating to 50% shade just before replanting.
The planting holes have a spacing at about 11 x 11m and the holes are 60cm in diameter and 60cm in depth.
Into each hole is place rock phosphate (CIRP) and composted animal manure before transplanting.
The durian seedlings are sensitive to sunlight and temporary shading should be provided for 6 months after transplanting. Proper irrigation reduces mortality.  

Nutrients Required

Durian seedlings require consistent and steady supply of plant nutrients.
For the first five years a ratio of 15:15:6:4 (N:K:P:Mg) is given annually.
From the sixth year onwards a ratio of 12:12:17:2+TE (N:P:K:Mg) is recommended.

WEEDING

Durian is a surface feeder, care should be taken during weeding to ensure the roots are not damaged.
Mulching to control weeds around the plant is helpful. This also helps to maintain soil moisture.

Pruning

Trees are pruned to preserve their health to obtain a desired canopy shape and to enhance production of fruits.
The operation consists of the removal of dead, broken or diseased branches and water shoots.
This is done after the first fruiting season.
Pruning permits free circulation of air and allows penetration of sunlight through the canopy.

Pests and Diseases

The most serious pest of the durian is the fruit borer, which at the larval stage, bores into and feeds on the fruit.
Another pest is the leaf cutter which can seriously defoliate young and older trees. Patch canker is the most serious disease.
Affected trees show bark decay, gummosis of the collar and stem collars causing dieback of branches.
The whole plant may eventually die and infect other plants.
Control is mainly cultural by providing good drainage, removal of vegetation around the trunk and use of resistant root stocks.
Affected trees are treated by painting or spraying Ridomil, a systemic fungicide.

Harvesting

Budded durians normally start bearing fruit from the fifth year after planting.
Durians generally bear one crop a year but may crop twice a year if influenced by the right conditions.
Normally durian fruits are allowed to drop when they are fully ripe.
However the fruits may be harvested from the tree, as is a common practice in Thailand.
The variety D24 may be harvested from 105 - 110 days after anthesis.
By harvesting, not only is the taste much better, but the shelf life could be extended to 9 - 11 days compared to 3 - 4 days when allowed to drop from tree.
The harvested fruit is fully ripe when the penduncle splits at the point of obsession.
YIELD

Initial yield may be 10 - 40 fruits for the first year of fruiting to about 100 fruits for the sixth
year. Yield of up to 200 fruits is common after the 10th year of fruiting.

USES

Fresh consumption Processed products: Durian cake, flavoring and confectionery, durian powder.

 

Choosing a good durian


Every year, with the coming of the durian season, the air is filled with a heavy 'odoromatous' presence; and the streets are lined with hastily composed pyramidal piles and altars for the King of fruits - the durian.


The first step in choosing a good durian is to grasp the durian that takes your fancy by its stalk and hold it in front of your eyes for close scrutiny.

An age old adage says that you cannot judge a book by its cover. But some 'so-called' durian experts claim that they can judge a durian by its thorns.

Durian holes generally fall into four categories:

1.Squirrel holes
Durians with squirrel holes are generally ripe and quite tasty as the squirrel who has been at it would gladly testify. However, these durians are considered 'second paw' (second hand) and being minus a few seeds should be purchased only after a generous discount.

2.Worm holes
Durians with worm holes have worms and other creepy crawlies in them and should be rejected unless, of course, you are one of those lovers of Swiss Cheese.

3.Man-made holes
These are small triangular openings cut into the durian so that the customer could have a sneak preview of the fleshy quality of the durian. Obviously if the durian is still there, it has been rejected. Would you take someone's reject?

4.Open backside type

Durians with their bottoms with are gaping or beginning to gape have seen better days - 2 or 3 to be precise - where they have been paraded, manhandled and put back on the shelf, rejected by all and sundry. Leave them in place.


Take the durian into your hands, with your fingers gripping the spaces between thorns, approximate it next to your ear at the side of your head and shake.

Stop and listen intently. If you hear some movement inside, examine the durian again as you may have missed out some small worm holes and there may be creepy crawlies moving inside the durian.
 

Now why shake the durian, Remember the other old adage - 'empty vessels make the most noise'. This holds true for the durian. If you hear vigorous hollow movements of seeds when you shake the durian - the fruit is all seed and no flesh - reject it.
If there is no movement at all on shaking, and the durian feels heavy for its size, the fruit is unripe or if ripe, waterlogged. Reject also. If you detect some faint movement and the fruit feels relatively light for its size - go on to the next step - the ultimate olfactory test which separates the men from the boys.



If you detect no smell at all also reject as the fruit is unripe.

But if you detect a faint aroma of bitter sweet butter scotch and almonds with a bouquet of wild honey and a hint of smoked oak then you have hit the jackpot and found yourself a durian with a thick, creamy, treacle like, bitter sweet tasting flesh for you to savour and enjoy.
 

Durian
Durian is called the "king of fruits" by those who love it. Tts smell can be "over-powering" to those newly introduced to it. Its thorny appearance could hurt if you allowed it to fall on your feet! It is even quite difficult getting at the fruit inside. Good durians have pulp that are neither watery nor hard to touch. It is kind of the in-between that is considered most delicious.
Durians
Malaysia’s king of fruits. Large size, spiky skin, has a pungent smell. Yellow flesh tastes very rich.

Retrived From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The Durian (Durio) is a plant and genus of 25-30 species of tropical trees native to southeast Asia. They are large trees, able to grow up to 40 meters in height. The leaves are evergreen, opposite, elliptic to oblong and 10-18 cm long. The flowers are produced in clusters of 3-30 together on large branches and the trunk, each flower having a calyx and 5 (rarely 4 or 6) petals.

The durian fruit matures in about 3 months after pollination. It can grow up to 40 cm long and 30 cm in diameter, and typically weighs 1-5 kg. The fruit can hang from any branch. A typical durian tree can bear fruit after 4-5 years. The color of the fruit ranges from green to brown, the shape oblong to round. Its distinctive features are a hard outer husk which is covered with sharp, prickly thorns, and a strong, distinctive odour which emits from the flesh within. Some regard this odour as fragrant, while the uninitiated often find it overpowering or offensive. The edible portion of the fruit is the yellowish, curd-like flesh which surrounds a hard seed. The seeds, which are the size of chestnuts, can be eaten if roasted, fried, or boiled. Some Westerners have described the experience of eating the durian as "like eating custard in a public lavatory". (Empirical evidence suggests that lemon juice and chocolate syrup help to vanquish the unfortunate aftertaste.) The fruit also looks quite similar to the jackfruit, even though they are not particularly related.
A durian falling on a person's head can cause serious injuries or death due to the fact that it is heavy, spiky, and may fall from high up, so a hardhat is essential when collecting the fruit. Because of this, the durian is sometimes called the most dangerous fruit in the world.
The scientific name for the commercial durian is Durio zibethinus. Other edible durian species are sometimes available in the local markets of Southeast Asia.
The durian is known as the king of the fruits, whilst the mangosteen is the queen of fruits. Its name comes from the Malay word "duri", which means "spike" or "thorn".
There are many cultivars of the durian, each having a name and also a code number starting with "D". For example, some popular clones are D24, D99, D158 and D159 (or 'Mon Thong'). Since the durian is the topic of study in certain agricultural institutions, certain commercialized strains are given a D number to distinguish them from "standard" wild varieties.

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