Durian: Manna for Tigers and Elephants?

Which fruit either is loved or hated, has a putrid smell like rotting onions or meat, and is forbidden within certain enclosed spaces in Southeast Asia? Some people love this fruit so much that they consider themselves addicted to the taste. 


These are the durians, natives to Borneo and Malysia but now found widely throughout Southeast Asia. They have an outer thorny covering that can really hurt when it falls on people! They grow on relatively primitive trees and the seeds may be among the earliest dispersed by animals in geological history.


Since the fruits and seeds are large, the only animals capable of dispersing them are large, such as elephants, tigers, and rhinoceros. The thorny covering cracks open when the fruit is ripe and falls from the trees. This exposes the smelly, nutritious fruit that attracts the animals. The animals eat the fruit which surrounds the seeds, then wanders around, eats other fruits, and deposits the seed surrounded by fertilizer far from the original tree.

This picture shows the fruit surrounding the seeds. The ovoid fruit, almost round in shape, can be up to about 5 to 6 inches wide and 12 inches long. A single durian can weigh up to 18 pounds. 


I was curious about this fascinating fruit, so I tried some pudding made with durian cubes. It was memorable! The flavor is somewhat almond-like and actually pleasant. However, it leaves a strong after-taste. I could not get rid of that after-taste until I brushed my teeth. 


Some durians were for sale in the Asian Grocery Store here in Austin. I examined them, and noticed that they did not have a strong smell, but the fruit was fully encased in the thorny covering so they did not have a strong odor. Each durian was sold in a net bag for people to carry without getting injured by the thorns.


The durian gets its name from the Malay word duri,which means thorn.
Inside are 5 seeds, each about 2 in in diameter. The seed is surrounded by a custard-like aril which has the strong odor. An aril is part the seed's own fleshy outer covering. Arils are rare in rainforest plants. The seeds are tough enough not to be damaged by chewing or digestive juices. Smaller animals, like monkeys, gibbons, fruit doves, tapirs, orangutans and humans sometimes enjoy the fruit of the durian.


The flower also has a strong odor, which attracts a small nocturnal bat that must pollinate the flowers for the durian fruit to form. Many people in Southeast Asia consider the durian the "King of Fruits." The flower is shown below.