Durian facts

[Guest guest]

I have been reading the thread on durians and decided to do some

internet research to answer two questions. 1. Fresh or frozen? 2.

Are pesticides used?

 

For the first question, I found this enlightening piece of

information at http://www.rirdc.gov.au/pub/handbook/durian.html:

" Most growers picked ripe fruits when they dropped from the tree.

Such fruits have a very short shelf live of 2–3 days. To reduce fruit

damage caused by the fall, tarpaulins or nets can be erected below

the tree during the ripening months. The shelf life of intact fallen

ripe fruits can be extended by 1–2 or more days if they are stored at

5–10°C.

" Selective harvest before the fruit is ripe, as is practised in

Thailand, will extend the shelf life, but this needs a great deal of

skill and experience. Thai growers use a combination of harvesting

indices in selective harvesting. These include: the number of days

from full bloom; colour, elasticity and disposition of the spines;

intensity of the odour emitted; the sound heard when the fingertips

are run through the furrows between the spines; changes in fruit

stalks and water flotation tests (Subhadrabandhu et al., 1991).

Selectively harvested fruit should be stored at 15°C [59°F] which

will extend their shelf life to 3 weeks, and quick-frozen arils

retain their flavour for more than 3 months. "

So, with this information, durians which were harvested after falling

off the tree would have to be eaten within 3 days from the point of

harvesting to be raw. Those which were harvested from the tree

itself could either be raw (up to 3 weeks) or frozen (up to over 3

months).

 

Secondly, I have found organic farms in Malaysia on the internet that

grow durians.

One is called GK Organic Farm. Go to

http://www.geocities.com/gankaz2000/9_Contact_us.htm for the contact

information if you would like a store to order from them. They

mention on their site there is no organic certification process in

Malayasia. So, while they are organic, they are not certified as

such.

Another farm is Titi Eco Farm Resort in Malaysia (see

http://titieco.bizland.com/index.html).

From what I have seen on the internet, the grown-in-Thailand durians

may be sprayed quite heavily with chemicals. Also from my research,

it appears that only pesticides approved (and with tolerance levels

set) by the EPA can be sprayed legally on crops. For durian, it

appears the only pesticide approved by the EPA is glyphosate (also

called Roundup), a weed killer. However, I have also read that

durians may undergo treatment after harvesting to retard fungus

growth or waxing to prevent cracking of the shells, reduce water loss

and extend shelf life. I do not know if the EPA rule applies to this

stage of processing or not. I have also read that a pesticide may be

used as bait to kill fire ants.

 

I hope all this information is helpful to those looking for ripe

organic durians.

 

Ron Koenig

Bellevue, WA

[Guest guest]

The first link will not work in the previous post as the colon at the

end was incorporated into the URL. Use the link below.

 

RawSeattle , " Ron Koenig " <ron.koenig@v...>

wrote:

> I have been reading the thread on durians and decided to do some

> internet research to answer two questions. 1. Fresh or frozen? 2.

> Are pesticides used?

>

> For the first question, I found this enlightening piece of

> information at http://www.rirdc.gov.au/pub/handbook/durian.html

>

> Ron Koenig

> Bellevue, WA