Due to its excessive odour, Thailand, Japan, and Hong Kong have banned the durian fruit in public transport. In Singapore, durian fruit is not allowed on all types of public transport and even taxis have signs to tell you that they refuse to carry passengers carrying stinky fruits.
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!
Biosecurity regulations in Australia dictate that any imported durian must be frozen, which means the only fresh durians available in the country come from a handful of farms in northern Australia.
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.
The durian is a a large, spikey, tasty, and smelly fruit from Indonesia, Thailand, and Singapore. It is banned in subways and hotels in these countries becuase of its horrible smell, which is said to be that of feet.
Anthony Bourdain once said that after eating durian, “Your breath will smell as if you'd been French-kissing your dead grandmother.” Countries where it's commonly found have banned it from public spaces, as even just a single fruit can turn the air within entire hotels and airports rancid.
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 pungent stench released by the rotting fruit was enough to clear a building, and not for the first time. The Durians' stench has been responsible for grounding planes and forcing evacuations of subways, schools and hospitals, so it's no wonder the eating of them in public is illegal in a lot of south-east Asia.
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).
Distribution: durian is mostly grown in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. Australian distribution: durian grows around Darwin in the NT and in north Queensland.
The best time to purchase fresh durians in Australia is from October to December when they are in season. The sulphuric characteristic of durian is more pungent in fresh varieties, and when eaten raw, has a creamy, custard-like texture.
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.
As Ms Gasik told The Guardian: "I treat durian like a wine because it is like a wine — it is a living organism that changes and ferments over its lifespan, so you can really do a lot with the flavour. I think that is what makes people so obsessive over it."
Are jackfruit and durian the same thing? Well, no. They are actually from totally different families. They do have a lot of similarities, however.
Researchers have confirmed the presence of the rare amino acid ethionine in a plant -- or more precisely, in the fruit of the durian tree.
Due to its overpowering smell, durian has been banned on many types of public transport across Thailand, Japan and Hong Kong. In Singapore, the fruit is banned across all types of public transportation and even taxis have signs to let you know they refuse to carry passengers transporting the smelly fruit.
Washing your hands with soap after preparing or eating durian may not help reduce the odour. However, using sliced cucumber is surprisingly effective at reducing odour. If this cucumber fails to do the trick, we recommend using alcohol based sanitiser. Citrus compounds are very good at neutralising the smell of durian.
The stinkiest fruit in the world is called 'Durian'. It looks just like jackfruit and is found commonly in South East Asia. The inner part of this fruit is yellow and has thorns on the skin, which if accidentally pricked by the eater, can injure the person.
Durian contains tryptophan, an essential amino acid that is required to increase the levels of melatonin. So eating a seed of durian near bedtime may help you sleep better.
Q: What smells worse: durian or jackfruit? A: Durian smells much more strongly than jackfruit. Some people think it smells like rotten eggs, while others say it smells like rotting flesh or sewage.
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).
The durian is a beloved delicacy in Malaysia, Singapore, and other parts of Southeast Asia. Its taste and smell, however, take some getting used to.
First-timers often have an idea of what it would taste like, but the durian is so unique, there is simply no other fruit like it. It's sometimes sweet, sometimes a bit savory. That's what makes the durian so special. It's a unique combination of flavors in one bite.
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.