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info
In Southeast Asia, considered
the "King of Fruits."
Botany
Durian is a tree that grows to a height
of 20 meters or more. Leaves are dark green, smooth and shiny above,
cinnamon-colored and scaly beneath, oblong to obovate-oblong, about 15 to 25 centimeters long, 5 to 9 centimeters wide. Flowers
are white to yellowish-white, abourt 7.5 centimeters in diameter, with a pouchlike calyx. Fruit is globular,
very large, 15 to 25 centimeters long, covered by a hard shell with stiff, sharp spines, weighing as much as 3 kilos or more.
Shell breaks into five parts to which the flesh adhere. In each section of the fruit, there are 2
to 6 very large seeds covered by the flesh (aril). The flesh is
soft and whitish, with the consistency of soft cheese, with
a characteristic unpleasant rank and repugnant odor of bad smelling cheese. The seeds are eaten, either boiled
or roasted.
Distribution
- Cultivated for its highly prized fruit.
- Not known to exist in a wild state in the Philippines.
- Found in Agusan, Butuan, Lanao, Zamboanga, Cotobato, and Davao Provinces in Mindanao, and in the Sulu Archipelago.
- Also occurs in Indo-China, the Malay Peninsula, Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Celebes, and the Moluccas mostly in cultivation.
Constituents
• The odor of the flesh believed to be dues to indole compounds
which are bacteriostatic.
• Study identified the three strongest sulfury durian odorants
and one non-sulfurous odorant with the highest odor impact.
• Study on the fruit odorants identified ethyl 2-methylbutanoate to have the highest odor impact among non-sulfurous odorants in durian.
• The fruit yields considerable amounts of phenolics, flavonoids, and carotenoids.
Properties
- Fruit is considered tonic, operative, depurative, and vermifuge.
- Possess a repugnant odor that
bans it from hotel lobbies and rooms.
 Nutritional
Facts
• Serving size: 1 - cup, chopped or diced (8.6 oz)
• Calories 357
• Total Fat 13.0 g
• Cholesterol 0 mg
• Total Carbs 65.8 g
• Fiber 9.2 g
• Protein 3.6 g
• Calcium 14.6 mg
• Potassium 1059.5 mg *
Caution !
As a potassium-rich
food it could be a good fruit to supplement potassium needs of
patients on diuretic therapy. However, it's potassium content should
be of concern in patients with kidney failure or varying degrees of
renal impairment or those already taking other forms of potassium supplementaion
or potassium-sparing diuretics.
Parts used
Fruit, leaves, and root.
Uses
Edibility
· Seeds are eaten, boiled or roasted.
Folkloric
· Decoction of
root and leaves taken for fevers.
· Leaves are used in medicinal baths for jaundice.
· The juice is used in a solution for bathing the head of a patient
with fever.
· In Java, fruit walls used externally for skin problems.
· In Malaya, decoction of leaves and roots used as febrifuge.
· Leaf juice applied on head for fever.
· Decoction of leaves and fruits used for swelling and skin diseases.
· Flesh used as aphrodisiac.
· In China, decoction of leaves and
roots used for fever. Used for colds, phlegm. Leaves used in medicinal
baths for patients with jaundice. Ash of burned rind taken after childbirth.
Used to improve sexual function.
· In Malaysia, leaf juice applied
to head for fever.
· A Malay prescription for fever
is a decoction or poultice of boiled roots of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis,
Durio zibethinus, Nephelium longan, Nephelium mutabile and Artocarpus
integrifolia. source
Others
· Dried rinds burned
as fuel and used to smoke fish.
· Ash used to bleach silk.
 Studies
• Lipid
Lowering Effect: Lipid
entrapment property of polysaccharide gel (PG) extracted from fruit-hulls
of durian (Durio zibethinus Murr. Cv. Mon-Thong)
: Results suggest that
PG from fruit-hulls of durian may be a potential dietary fiber/ medicinal
supplement for a blood lipid / cholesterol lowering effect.
• Durian-Alcohol Combination: Study investigated the adverse, and sometime lethal, effect of ingesting durian while imbibing alcohol with its Disulfiram-Ethanol type reaction arising from inhibition of aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH). (See Toxicity below)
• Immunomodulatory / Antibacterial: Polysaccharide gel from the fruit rind of D zibethinus has been characterized to be a pectic polysaccharide with immunomodulating and antibacterial activities.
• Hyperthermic
Effect / Paracetamol Interaction: Believed
to have body-warming properties with concerns on consumption with paracetamol.
Rat study showed no significant body temperature elevation. Rats receiving
a durian-paracetamol combination showed a significant drop in body temperature.
No mechanism for toxicity was identified.
• Antibacterial
/ Wound Healing Effect: (1)
Polysaccharide gel extracted from fruit-hulls of durian seems to have
a beneficial effect on wound healing in a pig study.(2) Bactericidal
effect of polysaccharide gel was clearly demonstrated against S. aureus
and E. coli. Study showed accelerated wound healing.
•
Phenolic Content
/ Antioxidant Effect: Study
showed the durian cultivars' high bioactivity and total polyphenols
were the main contributors to the overall antioxidant capacity and provides
a source of nutritional supplement.
• Fruit-Hulls Antimicrobial Activity: PG inhibited the growth of 2 bacterial strains tested: S aureus and E coli. The yeast strains were resistant.
• Physiochemical Properties / Storage: Study on ambient and refrigerated storage showed the pulp can be stored for 21-days, after which off-flavor develops and the green aroma becomes too intense and renders the pulp unacceptable.
• Antioxidant Phytochemicals: Study showed caffeic acid and quercetin were the dominant antioxidant substances in durian. Ripe durian showed high bioactivity and the total polyphenols were main contributors to the overall antioxidant property.
Toxicity
• Durian with Alcohol:
Reports have been made of believed adverse and sometimes lethal effects
of ingesting durian while drinking alcohol. The scientific basis has
not been established. A study showed a dose-dependent inhibition of
yeast ALDH (aldehyde dehydrogenase) by sulphur-rich fruit extract. Results
support the role of durian fruit's high sulphur content in its ALDH-inhibiting
property providing insight into the disulfiram-ethanol-like reaction
with the simulataneous fruit ingestion and alcohol consumption.
Availability
Cultivated for its fruit. |
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