- Avocado
- Banana
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- Custardapple
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- Durian
- Guava
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- Jujube
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- Longan
- Longkong
- Lychee
- Mafai
- Mango
- Mangosteen
- Maprang
- Papaya
- Passionfruit
- Pineapple
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- Pomelo
- Pumpkin
- Rambutan
- Roseapple
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The ripe durian is best known for its terrible smell of over-ripe cheese, rotten onions, turpentine and drains. Hotels in Thailand often display signboards that Durians are not allowed inside the building. Despite this, it is highly appreciated by many for its special sweet and aromatic taste. This page provides basic information, some proverbs and photos of durian, which is also known as the "king of fruits".
| Scientific name: | Durio zibethinus Murr. |
| Family: | Bombacaceae |
| Order: | |
| Common names: | English: Durian |
| Dutch: Doerian | |
| Spanish: Durián | |
| French: Durian | |
| Origin: | Indonesia, Borneo, Malaysia |
| Distribution: | South-East Asia, West-Indies, Madagascar. Highest production is in Chanthaburi, a province in Thailand about 240 km east of Bangkok. |
| Evergreen or deciduous: | Evergreen |
| Flowers: | Large yellowish green feathery flowers, which produce a lot of nectar. Flowers have a heavy, sour and buttery odor. |
| Leaves: | Elliptic to oblong leaves, 10-18 cm long, 3-7 cm wide. The leaves are smooth with a light or dark green color/ The underside of the leaves has a golden sheen. |
| Fruits: | Spiky fruits with a hard, brownish-green peel. Fruits vary in size but can be larger as a human head (30-40 cm). Weight from 1 to 5 kilos. Fruits hang from the branches. Fruits are filled with an edible, cream-colored, custard-like pulp. Embedded in the pulp are one to five chestnut-sized seeds. Fruits have a mild sweet flavor but a very pungent bad smelling odor. The flesh is widely believed to act as an aphrodisiac. |
| Climate and weather: | Needs a tropical climate with abundant rainfall. |
| Pollination: | Pollination mainly by fruit bats. Human hand-pollination increases fruit set. |
| Height: | Big trees often 25 meter tall. Some even up to 40 meter. |
| Crown size: | |
| Blooming period | Durian trees have one or two flowering and fruiting periods each year. The timing depends on species and locality. In East Thailand the main blooming period is December to February. |
| Type of soil: |
Prefers rich, deep, well-drained sandy clay or clay loam (deep alluvial or loamy soil), high in organic matter. |
| Preferred pH: | pH range of 6-7 |
| Spacing (close range) | 6 meter |
| Spacing (wide range) | 16 meter |
| Canopy: | |
| Propagation: | Seedlings or vegetative propagation. |
| Insect pests: | Durian fruit borer: Conogethes punctiferalis, Durian seed borer: Mudaria luteileprosa, Durian Psyllid: Allocaridara malayensis , African red mite: Eutetranychus africanus |
| Diseases: | Root and stem rot: Phytophthora palmivora, Fruit rot: Phytophthora palmivora |
| Fruit development: | After pollination of the flowers fruit development takes about 3 months. |
| Harvesting: | Wait until the fruit falls from the tree and wait 2 to 4 days for the fruit to fully ripen before eating it. If fruits are harvested while still on the tree, the flesh will have a firmer texture and flavor and odor will be milder. |
| Uses: | Eat as fruit. It is believed to have aphrodisiac properties (= stimulating sexual desire). |
Proverbs
- Encountering a fallen Durian. (= good luck)
- Like a cucumber versus a durian. (This refers to the struggle between the weak and the strong. The strong (i.e. the durian) will always win.).
- Durian: tastes like heaven ... smells like hell.
