Durio graveolens

Durio graveolens
Durio graveolens 'Suluy Z' at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Miami
Conservation status
Vulnerable  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Malvales
Family:	Malvaceae
Genus:	Durio
Species:	D. graveolens
Binomial name
Durio graveolens Becc., 1889[2]

Fruit and leaves of D. graveolens
Nutritional value per 100 g
Energy	152 kcal (640 kJ)
Carbohydrates
Dietary fiber	21.5 g
Fat	6.2 g
Saturated	1.9 g
Trans	0.9 g
Monounsaturated	2.5 g
Polyunsaturated omega−6	1.8 g 1.8 g
Protein	2.6 g
Vitamins and minerals Vitamins Quantity %DV† Vitamin C 12% 10.4 mg Minerals Quantity %DV† Calcium 1% 10 mg Copper 78% 0.7 mg Iron 3% 0.6 mg Magnesium 6% 27 mg Manganese 17% 0.4 mg Phosphorus 3% 43 mg Potassium 18% 529 mg Zinc 5% 0.59 mg
Other constituents	Quantity
Water	66.7%
Cholesterol	0 mg
†Percentages estimated using US recommendations for adults,[5] except for potassium, which is estimated based on expert recommendation from the National Academies.[6] Source: (Hoe & Siong 1999)[3] (Nasaruddin, Noor, & Mamat 2013)[4]

Durio graveolens, sometimes called the red-fleshed durian,^[7] orange-fleshed durian, or yellow durian,^[8] is a species of tree in the family Malvaceae.^[9] It is one of six species of durian named by Italian naturalist Odoardo Beccari.^[10] The specific epithet graveolens ('strong smelling' or 'rank')^[11] is due to the odor. Although most species of Durio (most notably Durio dulcis) have a strong scent, the red-fleshed type of D. graveolens has a mild scent.^[12][13] It is native to Southeast Asia.

D. graveolens is an edible durian,^[14][15] perhaps the most popular 'wild' species of durian, and it is sold commercially regionally.^[16] However, its congener Durio zibethinus is the typical species eaten and dominates sales worldwide.^{[citation needed]}

This species should not be confused with the popular durian clones from Malaysia known as 'Red Flesh' (D164) and 'Red Prawn' (D175), as both of those belong to D. zibethinus.^[17]

However, D. graveolens does have one registered variety, 'DQ2 nyekak (DK8)'.^[17] The color of the fruit's flesh denotes other varieties–an orange-fleshed, a red-fleshed one, and yellow-fleshed. These varieties may be different species, but currently there is no consensus.^[12][16] The yellow-fleshed kind is sometimes called durian simpor.^[12][8][7]

In the scientific name Durio graveolens, graveolens means 'strong smelling',^[18][11] although it has been described as having a "mild"^[12] or "slight"^[13] odor or even, in a book published by the US National Research Council, as "odorless".^[13]

In Malay, the fruit is called durian burong, durian burung^[7] (literally "bird durian"), durian rimba ("jungle durian"),^[15] durian kuning^[7][19][12] ("yellow durian"),^[4] durian merah ("red durian"),^{[7][16][12][14]} or durian otak udang galah^[19][12] ("crayfish brain durian").^[8] In Iban, it is durian isu.^[8] The Bidayuh call it durian umot.^[8] Among the Kenyah and Dayak peoples, it is known as durian anggang ("hornbill durian"),^[15] durian ajan, pesang,^[15] tabela or ta-bela,^[15] tabelak,^[12][7] taula,^[15][12] tuala, tuwala.^[8] On Sumatra, the Batak call it tinambela.^[15][12][8] In Karo, it is called meraan.^[20] In Thailand, it is referred to as thurian rak kha (Thai: ทุเรียนรากขา) or thurian khua tit (ทุเรียนขั้วติด; sources differ on which name refers to this species, with the other being attributed to D. kutejensis).^[21][22] In Aceh Tamiang Regency, it can be called durian batu ("stone durian"), and elsewhere in Sumatra, it known as durian adjan.^[15][12] Other regional names include durian dalit^[16][12][23] (but this can apply also to Durio oxleyanus^[24]) alau, dujen, durian alau, durian daun dungoh, durian hutan^[12] ("forest durian"), durian pipit, lai bengang, merang kunyit, pasang, and tongkai.^[8]

A natural hybrid of D. graveolens and D. zibethinus is called durian siunggong or durian suluk.^[7][8][12] It has the texture and flavour of the popular D. zibethinus and the burnt caramel overtones of D. graveolens.^[8][7]

After its initial description in 1889 by Odoardo Beccari, in 1924, Dutch botanist Reinier Cornelis Bakhuizen Van Den Brink reduced it to a synonym of D. conicus. British botanist John Wyatt-Smith combined it all under D. dulcis in 1953. Indonesian botanists André Joseph Guillaume Henri Kostermans and Wertit Soegeng-Reksodihardjo separated D. graveolens back to its own species in 1958.^[25]

Wild D. graveolens grows in Peninsular Malaysia^{[8][15][7][14]} (states of Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Malacca, Penang, Perak, Selangor, and Terengganu), Indonesian Islands of Borneo^{[8][15][7][14]} and Sumatra,^{[15][14][7][8]} Palawan,^[7] and Southern Thailand.^[26] It is cultivated in Brunei,^[7] Sarawak, Sabah,^[8] and the Northern Territory of Australia.^[14] In Brunei, its popularity outshines D. zibethinus,^[19] which is not cultivated in the country.^[27]

It is occasionally grown outside the tropics. In Florida, it has been seen to survive two consecutive nights at 0 °C (32 °F), albeit shrouded in cloth.^[28]

D. graveolens is a large tree, sharing many features with D. dulcis.^[2] It inhabits the upper canopy, growing up to 50 m (160 ft) tall.^[8][15] The trunk is 85–100 cm (33–39 in) in diameter and can have no branches until about 25 m (82 ft) high.^[8] The trunk will be smooth or flaky, grey/mauve to ruddy brown with steep buttress roots.^[8] The buttresses reach 3 m (9.8 ft) and extend out 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in).^[15]

The oblong leaves are 10–26 cm (3.9–10.2 in) long without the petiole (leaf stalk), and 4–10 cm (1.6–3.9 in) wide.^[2][8] They are perfectly rounded on both ends, rigid, and slightly coriaceous (leather-like in feel or texture).^[8][2] On the top, they are glabrous (smooth and hairless) and crisp,^[8] almost vernicose (varnished).^[2] Underneath, the leaves are copper-brown and lepidote (scaly),^[8] with large scales of up to 2 mm (0.079 in) in diameter, which are not very noticeable, at least when dry.^[2] The leaf scales are peltate (shield-shaped), ciliate-radiated (fringed), and deeply-lobed in three to five parts.^[2] In addition to the scales, long strands of stellate hairs and other trichomes of varying size form a soft tomentose (fuzzy) surface.^[2] The leaf midrib is very prominent on the underside and forms a crease on top.^[2] The leaf stipules are caducous (drop early).^[8] Leaves have 10-12 lateral veins per side (with some smaller ones intermixed), which are tiny and superficial above and more distinct, but still barely visible.^[2] The petiole is very large, 15–18 mm (0.59–0.71 in) long, and tumescent (swollen) from the middle up.^[2]

Flowers grow on the branches^[2][29] on short cymes and a thin calyx.^[8] The base is sac-like with three to five connate lobes.^[8][29] It has white,^[29] spatulate (spoon-shaped) petals that are 25–35 millimetres (0.98–1.38 in) long.^[8] Inside are five separate bundles of staminodes and stamens,^[8] fused for less than half of their length.^[29] The anther has small clusters of four or five elongated pollen locules that open with longitudinal slits.^[29] Ovaries are ovoid to globose (roughly spherical) and possess a yellow capitate (shaped like a pinhead) stigma and white to greenish style^[8] about 48 mm (1.9 in).^[30] The pollen is psilate (relatively smooth), spheroidal, and 54 μm (0.0021 in) in diameter.^[30] The surface of the pollen includes three colporate apertures, meaning the apertures have a combined colpus (or furrow) and pore.^[30] The pollen grains are monad and do not cluster.^[30]

The fruits are up to 10–15 cm (3.9–5.9 in) in diameter,^{[2][8][14][31][29]} and weigh about 757.5 grams (26.72 oz).^[32] The greenish- to orange-yellow outside is densely covered with long (1 cm (0.39 in)) and thin angular-subulate spines which are straight or slightly curved, and prickly^[2][8][14] yet slightly soft.^[29] The fruit easily breaks into five fibrous-coriaceous valves (sections)^[8][14][31] with 5–6 millimetres (0.20–0.24 in) thick walls.^[2] Typically the fruit opens on the tree,^[8][14] but some varieties do not until they are on the ground or harvested. There are 2 bulbous or chestnut-shaped seeds per section, each completely enveloped by fleshy aril.^[2][14][29] These glossy brown seeds are 2 cm × 4 cm (0.79 in × 1.57 in).^[8][14][31] The pungent aril is the part consumed as food,^[2] though some sources note the odor is sometimes very mild.^[14][29][15] It ranges in color from light yellow^[2] to orange to lipstick red.^{[8][7][14][29]}

D. graveolens is in the core clade Palatadurio of the genus Durio.^[29] It is most closely related to Durio kutejensis.^[29]

D. graveolens is a tropical plant species that needs high heat and humidity.^[8] Typically, it is found on clay-rich soils in wet lowland dipterocarp forests, frequently along riverbanks and swamps.^[8] Because of its tolerance for wet habitats,^[15] it is possibly resistant to infection by the oomycete Phytophthora palmivora.^[14][19] It can also be found on hillsides and shale ridges up to 1,000 m (3,300 ft) in elevation.^[8]

It is pollinated by bats.^[30] As it is one of the only species to naturally hybridize with D. zibethinus,^[7][8][33] they are thought to share a pollinator, likely the cave nectar bat (Eonycteris spelaea).^[34][25] Pollen from both of these durian species has been found in cave nectar bat feces, and possibly in that of the long-tongued fruit bat (Macroglossus sobrinus).^[35]

After harvest, fruit can be set upon by fungi such as Lasiodiplodia theobromae, Glomerella cingulata, Geotrichum candidum, Calonectria kyotensis, and occasionally Gliocephalotrichum bulbilium.^[19] Secondary or opportunistic fungal infection can be from species such as Aspergillus niger and other Aspergillus spp., Candida spp., Gibberella intricans, and Penicillium spp.^[19]

The fruit is fed on by Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus),^[20] Prevost's squirrels (Callosciurus prevostii), crab-eating macaques (Macaca fascicularis), black hornbills (Anthracoceros malayanus), possibly viverrids^[31] and sun bears (Helarctos malayanus).^[36] Black hornbills are also effective seed dispersers for the tree,^[31] and this is referenced in a few of the regional names for the tree (see § Names).

The fatty acids in the fruit are 30% saturated and 70% unsaturated.^[4] The saturated fats include myristic acid (14.49%), arachidic acid (7.08%), pentadecanoic acid (3.61%), heptadecanoic acid (2.2%), decanoic acid (1.62%), and lauric acid (1.31%).^[4] Unsaturated fats include oleic acid (22.18%), palmitoleic acid (13.55%), linolelaidic acid (12.39%), γ-linolenic acid (12.23%), linoleic acid (4.95%), elaidic acid (2.50%), and myristoleic acid (1.89%).^[4]

The fruit's pulp is typically eaten raw and has the fragrance of roasted almonds^[8][7][19] or burnt caramel.^[8][7] The taste is described as sweet and cheesy^[19] or similar to eating an avocado or pimento cheese.^[12] Sometimes, it is fermented into the condiment tempoyak.^[16] The red-fleshed type is used with freshwater fish to make a type of sayur (a traditional Indonesian vegetable stew).^[8]

The seeds can also be ground into flour (tepung biji durian dalit), which then can be used to make, for example, fish crackers.^[23]

The tree is also harvested for lumber in Sarawak.^[8] The Iban people there also bathe day-old infants (especially for preterm birth) in a tisane of mature bark, as they believe it strengthens the skin.^[8]

• List of Durio species
• Durian Burung, a town in Malaysia

• Media related to Durio graveolens at Wikimedia Commons
• Data related to Durio graveolens at Wikispecies
• Durio graveolens at Year of the Durian
• Durio graveolens at Dr. Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical databases Archived 2022-12-09 at the Wayback Machine