Durian Strait

The durian (, ) is the edible fruit of several tree species belonging to the genus ''Durio''. There are 30 recognised ''Durio'' species, at least nine of which produce edible fruit. '' Durio zibethinus'', native to Borneo and Sumatra, is the only species available in the international market. It has over 300 named varieties in Thailand and 100 in Malaysia, as of 1987. Other species are sold in their local regions. Durians are commonly associated with Southeast Asian cuisine, especially in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Philippines, Bangladesh and Vietnam.

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 long and in diameter, and it typically weighs . 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.

An acquired taste, some people regard the durian as having a pleasantly sweet fragrance, whereas others find the aroma overpowering and unpleasant. The smell evokes reactions from deep appreciation to intense disgust, and has been described variously as rotten onions, turpentine, and raw sewage. The persistence of its odour, which may linger for several days, has led certain hotels and public transportation services in Southeast Asia to ban the fruit. The nineteenth-century British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace described its flesh as "a rich custard highly flavoured with almonds". The flesh can be consumed at various stages of ripeness, and it is used to flavour a wide variety of savoury and sweet desserts in Southeast Asian cuisines. The seeds can also be eaten when cooked.

Etymology

The name "durian" is derived from the Malay word ''dūrī'' (meaning 'thorn'), a reference to the numerous prickly thorns
on its rind, combined with the noun-building suffix . According to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'', the alternate spelling ''durion'' was first used in a 1588 translation of ''The History of the Great and Mighty Kingdom of China and the Situation Thereof'' by the Spanish explorer Juan González de Mendoza:

Other historical variants include ''duryoen'', ''duroyen'', ''durean'', and ''dorian''. The name of the type species, '' Durio zibethinus'', is derived from ''Viverra zibetha'' (the large Indian civet), a mammal known for its odour.

Taxonomy

''Durio sensu lato'' has 30 recognised species. ''Durio sensu stricto'' comprises 24 of these species. The 6 additional species included in ''Durio s.l.'' are now considered by some to comprise their own genus, ''Boschia''. ''Durio s.s.'' and ''Boschia'' have indistinguishable vegetative characteristics and many shared floral characteristics. The crucial difference between the two is that anther locules open by apical pores in ''Boschia'' and by longitudinal slits in ''Durio s.s.'' These two genera form a clade that is sister to another genus in the tribe Durioneae, '' Cullenia''. These three genera together form a clade that is characterised by highly modified (mono- and polythecate, as opposed to bithecate) anthers.

The genus ''Durio'' is placed by some taxonomists in the family Bombacaceae, or by others in a broadly defined Malvaceae that includes Bombacaceae, and by others in a smaller family of just seven genera Durionaceae.

''Durio'' is often included in Bombacaceae because of the presence of monothecate anthers, as opposed to the bithecate anthers common to the rest of the mallows (and angiosperms, in general). However, the first studies to examine mallow phylogeny using molecular data found that the tribe Durioneae should be placed in the subfamily Helicteroideae of an expanded Malvaceae. The authors of these studies hypothesise that monothecate anthers have most likely evolved convergently in Durioneae and in the Malvatheca clade (comprising Malvaceae s.l. subfamilies Malvoideae and Bombacoideae).

A draft genome analysis of durian indicates it has about 46,000 coding and non-coding genes, among which a class called methionine gamma-lyases – which regulate the odour of organosulfur compounds – may be primarily responsible for the distinct durian odour. Genome analysis also indicated that the closest plant relative of durian is cotton.

Description

Durian trees are large, growing to in height depending on the species. The leaves are evergreen, elliptic to oblong and long. The flowers are produced in three to thirty clusters together on large branches and directly on the trunk with each flower having a calyx (sepals) and five (rarely four or six) petals. Durian trees have one or two flowering and fruiting periods per year, although the timing varies depending on the species, cultivars, and localities. A typical durian tree can bear fruit after four or five years. The durian fruit can hang from any branch, and matures roughly three months after pollination. The fruit can grow up to long and in diameter, and typically weighs one to three kilograms (2 to 7 lb). 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. Among the thirty known species of ''Durio'', nine of them have been identified as producing edible fruits: '' D. zibethinus'', '' D. dulcis'', '' D. grandiflorus'', '' D. graveolens'', '' D. kutejensis'', '' Durio lowianus'', '' D. macrantha'', '' D. oxleyanus'' and '' D. testudinarius''. The fruit of many species has never been collected or properly examined, however, so other species may have edible fruit. The durian is somewhat similar in appearance to the jackfruit, an unrelated species.

''D. zibethinus'' is the only species commercially cultivated on a large scale and available outside of its native region. Since this species is open-pollinated, it shows considerable diversity in fruit colour and odour, size of flesh and seed, and tree phenology. In the species name, ''zibethinus'' refers to the Indian civet, ''Viverra zibetha''. There is disagreement over whether this name, bestowed by Linnaeus, refers to civets being so fond of the durian that the fruit was used as bait to entrap them, or to the durian smelling like the civet.

Durian flowers are large and feathery with copious nectar, and give off a heavy, sour, and buttery odour. These features are typical of flowers pollinated by certain species of bats that eat nectar and pollen. According to research conducted in Malaysia in the 1970s, durians were pollinated almost exclusively by cave fruit bats (''Eonycteris spelaea''); however, a 1996 study indicated two species, ''D. grandiflorus'' and '' D. oblongus'', were pollinated by spiderhunters ( Nectariniidae) and another species, ''D. kutejensis'', was pollinated by giant honey bees and birds as well as bats.

Some scientists have hypothesised that the development of monothecate anthers and larger flowers (compared to those of the remaining genera in Durioneae) in the clade consisting of ''Durio'', ''Boschia'', and ''Cullenia'' was in conjunction with a transition from beetle pollination to vertebrate pollination.

Cultivars

Over the centuries, numerous durian cultivars, propagated by vegetative clones, have arisen in Southeast Asia. They used to be grown with mixed results from seeds of trees bearing superior quality fruit, but now are propagated by layering, marcotting, or more commonly, by grafting, including bud, veneer, wedge, whip or U-grafting onto seedlings of randomly selected rootstocks. Different cultivars may be distinguished to some extent by variations in the fruit shape, such as the shape of the spines. Durian consumers express preferences for specific cultivars, which fetch higher prices in the market.

Malaysian varieties

The Malaysian Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry started to register varieties of durian in 1934, and now maintains a list of registered varieties, where each cultivar is assigned a common name and a code number starting with "D". These codes are widely used through South-East Asia, and as of 2021, there are over 200 registered varieties. Many superior cultivars have been identified through competitions held at the annual Malaysian Agriculture, Horticulture, and Agrotourism Show. There are 13 common Malaysian varieties having favourable qualities of colour, texture, odour, taste, high yield, and resistance against various diseases.

Musang King (D197) is the most popular durian breed from Malaysia, rendered in Chinese as "Mao Shan Wang" (猫山王), which is usually the priciest of all cultivars. The origin of the name "Musang King" dates back to the 80s, when a man named Tan Lai Fook from Raub, Pahang stumbled upon a durian tree in Gua Musang, Kelantan. He brought the tree branch back to Raub for grafting, and this new breed attracted other cultivators. The cultivar was named after Gua Musang, its place of origin, while the Chinese name references the palm civet, the Malay meaning of ''musang''.
Musang King is known for its bright yellow flesh and is like a more potent or enhanced version of the D24. Musang King is also the preferred cultivar in Singapore and Vietnam.

Other popular cultivars in Malaysia include:
* "D24" (''Sultan''), a popular variety known for its bittersweet taste
* "XO", which has a pale colour, thick flesh with a tinge of alcoholic fermentation
* "Chook Kiok" (Cantonese meaning: bamboo leg) which has a distinctive yellowish core in the inner stem
* "D168" (IOI), which has a round shape, medium size, green and yellow outer skin colour, and has flesh easy to dislodge. The flesh is medium-thick, solid, yellow in colour, and sweet.
* "Red Prawn" (''Udang Merah'', D175), found in the states of Pahang and Johor. The fruit is medium-sized with oval shape, brownish green skin having short thorns. The flesh is thick, not solid, yellow-coloured, and has a sweet taste.

Indonesian varieties

Indonesia has more than 103 varieties of durian. The most cultivated species is ''Durio zibethinus''. Notable varieties are Sukun durian ( Central Java), sitokong ( Betawi), sijapang (Betawi), Simas (Bogor

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