page_title: Durian
section_title: Ripeness and selection
hierarchical_section_title: Durian / Flavour and odour / Ripeness and selection
caption_attribution_description: A man sniffing durian
context_page_description: The durian is the fruit of several tree species belonging to the genus Durio. There are 30 recognised Durio species, at least nine of which produce edible fruit, with over 300 named varieties in Thailand and 100 in Malaysia, as of 1987. Durio zibethinus is the only species available in the international market: other species are sold in their local regions. It is native to Borneo and Sumatra.
  Named in some regions as the "king of fruits", the durian is distinctive for its large size, strong odour, and thorn-covered rind. The fruit can grow as large as 30 centimetres long and 15 cm in diameter, and it typically weighs 1 to 3 kilograms. Its shape ranges from oblong to round, the colour of its husk green to brown, and its flesh pale yellow to red, depending on the species.
  Some people regard the durian as having a pleasantly sweet fragrance, whereas others find the aroma overpowering with an unpleasant odour. The smell evokes reactions from deep appreciation to intense disgust, and has been described variously as rotten onions, turpentine, and raw sewage.
context_section_description: According to Larousse Gastronomique, the durian fruit is ready to eat when its husk begins to crack. However, the ideal stage of ripeness to be enjoyed varies from region to region in Southeast Asia and by species. Some species grow so tall that they can only be collected once they have fallen to the ground, whereas most cultivars of D. zibethinus are nearly always cut from the tree and allowed to ripen while waiting to be sold. Some people in southern Thailand prefer their durians relatively young when the clusters of fruit within the shell are still crisp in texture and mild in flavour. For some people in northern Thailand, the preference is for the fruit to be soft and aromatic. In Malaysia and Singapore, most consumers prefer the fruit to be as ripe and pungent in aroma as possible and may even risk allowing the fruit to continue ripening after its husk has already cracked open. In this state, the flesh becomes richly creamy, slightly alcoholic, the aroma pronounced and the flavour highly complex.
  The various preferences regarding ripeness among consumers make it hard to issue general statements about choosing a "good" durian. A durian that falls off the tree continues to ripen for two to four days, but after five or six days most would consider it overripe and unpalatable, although some Thais proceed from that point to cook it with palm sugar, creating a dessert called durian (or thurian) guan.
caption: A customer sniffs a durian before purchasing it.
exif: {"Image Make": "FUJI PHOTO FILM CO., LTD.", "Image Model": "SLP1000SE", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS2 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2007:08:10 21:25:13", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "246", "Image Tag 0x920C": "212100", "Image Tag 0x920D": "19", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "506", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "8504", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0210", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": ":  :     :  :", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2007:08:01 15:11:34", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1232", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1840", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed"}