The durian fruit, native to Southeast Asia, is regarded the "king of fruits" due to its distinctive (large) shape and rich flavor (although some dislike the taste). Durian is also known as being the smelliest fruit in the world due to its distinctive (read: awful) smell.
The Chinese consider durian and mangosteen to be the king and queen of fruits because of their opposing flavours – the durian is 'warming' due to its pungent smell and rich consistency however the mangosteen is 'cooling' because of its juicy flesh and slightly acidic taste.
Durian is known as the “king of fruits”. It is the size of a watermelon and is distinctive for its strong smell and prickly skin. Some people find durian has a pleasant sweetness, but others find the odor to be overbearing and unpleasant.
The taste is relatively mild and it's the perfect fruit for beginners. For advanced eaters and durian lovers, the fruit can't be ripe enough. The riper it is, the more intense the taste and the creamier the consistency. The flesh gets almost as soft as butter and has a sweet, slightly nutty, and overripe warm taste.
Durian is rich in B vitamins, but it's especially rich in vitamin B6 — it has 38% of the daily recommended value — which is especially important for brain health. According to HealthyEating, Vitamin B6 plays a prevalent part in brain health — regulating mood and preventing mental fatigue.
Eating 2 to 3 seeds of durian a day is sufficient. Durians contain heart-healthy monounsaturated fats (which help to lower bad LDL cholesterol), vitamins and minerals such as Vitamin C, potassium, magnesium and iron and have a high fibre content (about 3g in a large 80g seed).
Singapore. Singapore's obsession with durian is on a whole different level. They have the highest per capita consumption of the fruit, and every year, they import over 22,000 tons of durian from Malaysia.
This is because durian has an extremely peculiar, pungent odor that people have compared to Limburger cheese. Some people have even compared its odour to rotten onion, stale socks or raw sewage. For this reason, the fruit is banned from hotels, public transportation and flights in Thailand, Japan and Hong Kong!
For example, Westerners saying Asian durian fruit smell awful & gagging at the idea of eating them, when THE EXACT SAME aroma compounds in are what give many popular European cheeses their flavour.
The mangosteen, also known as the “queen of fruits” is a tropical fruit which originated in Southeast Asia.
The earliest known European reference to the durian is the record of Niccolò de' Conti, who travelled to Southeast Asia in the 15th century.
Because the seeds are so big the durian tree depends on large animals like elephants and rhinoceros to eat and disperse the seeds. The seeds are tough enough not to be damaged by chewing or digestive juices. Other animals, like monkeys, gibbons, fruit doves, tapirs, orangutans and man enjoy the fruit of the durian.
The Chinese's love for durian is hidden in their DNA, according to Mr Wen Chao, founder of Wenji Durian. “Durian is really an interesting fruit, it is an imported product, but its protein, sugar and lipid ratio just coincides with the eating habits of the Chinese.
Turns out, durian stinks because of it's genetics.
“The researchers think this boost in activity was linked with another gene they found called ACS, which regulates the production of ethylene, a plant hormone involved in ripening,” wrote the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Once the trees start to flower, farmers count the days until the fruits are ripe. Depending on the breed, this can span 90 to 150 days. But it's not only the time and labor that make Nont durian so pricey. The costs to provide this kind of care add up.
Durian has been described as the most foul-smelling fruit in the world. Its aroma has been compared to raw sewage, rotting flesh and smelly gym socks. Durian's smell is so pungent that the spiky-skinned, custard-like fruit is even banned from public places in Singapore and Malaysia.
durian, (Durio zibethinus), tree of the hibiscus, or mallow, family (Malvaceae) and its large edible fruit. The durian is cultivated in Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, and southern Thailand and is seldom exported.
Durian peel can be the main contributor to agricultural wastes and becomes an environmental problem when it is discarded into the landfill site or even burning it. The average of entire durian fruit weight is about 255,353 MT for all over the country.
Distribution: durian is mostly grown in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. Australian distribution: durian grows around Darwin in the NT and in north Queensland.
Durian is believed to originate from Borneo Island, where more Durio species have been found than anywhere else (Reksodihardjo, 1962; Siti Zainab and Zainal Abidin, 2008). Once a minor crop, durian is now an important tropical fruit crop in South-East Asia.
Durian. The king of fruit.
Surprisingly, it can make you sleep better. Tryptophan in durian is also converted to melatonin, a hormone that controls your sleep cycle. The higher your melatonin levels, the easier it is to fall asleep. If you have trouble snoozing, swap your usual bedtime snack for durian - just one seed is enough.
Natural Aphrodisiac
It enhances libido and revitalizes the sexual life. This benefit of durian is mainly because of the nutritional compounds like vitamin B6 and potassium in it. Potassium is a natural vasodilator that relaxes blood vessels and improves blood circulation. It also assists with erectile dysfunction.
Besides that, durian can produce intensified sexual libido and stamina, and also reduce the chances of infertility in men and women, and increase sperm motility (Health benefits of Durian, 2015).