THE DURIAN FKUIT 



DURIO 



ZIBETHINUS 

 Durian 



52,969 acres, with, in addition, 232 acres in Sind. The chief localities 

 are usually in Gujarat, Surat ; in the Deccan, Poona ; in the Karnatak, 

 Belgaum and Bijapur ; in the Konkan, Thana and Kolaba. 



Madras and Mysore. Very little can be said regarding this crop in 

 South India except that it is grown in gardens, being sown from June to 

 August, and reaped from October to March. In the Dictionary will be 

 found a selection of passages from the Madras District Manuals, and 

 these may be consulted. Rice (Mysore Gaz., 1897, i., 112) says it is always 

 cultivated with rdgi (Eleusine coracana). When the plant is cut it is 

 exposed for one day to the sun and then beaten with a stick to separate 

 the seed. [Cf. Buchanan-Hamilton, Journ. Mysore, etc., i., 103 ; ii., 220, 

 290, 314, 323, 384.] 



Burma. Mason (Burma and Its People, 1860, 466, 768) says " the 

 Burmese and Karens grow several varieties of one or two species of Lablab, 

 which occupy the place of kidney beans in Europe." 



FOOD AND FODDER. It is difficult, if not impossible, to estimate 

 the actual area under a garden crop such as the present. It is grown 

 all over India more or less, but is comparatively rare in Northern India, 

 becomes abundant in Central, Western and Southern India, and is ex- 

 tended through Bengal and Assam to Burma. As already indicated, it is 

 grown as a green vegetable (corresponding very largely with French 

 beans and as a ripe pulse with the broad bean) and also as a fodder 

 crop. The ripe pulse is eaten by certain classes only or is employed as a 

 cattle food. Church (Food-Grains of India, 1886, 161, t. 31) gives the 

 following, deduced from the chemical analyses of the ripe bean : Nutrient 

 ratio 1 : 2'5, nutrient value 80. The percentage of albuminoids is rather 

 variable. Leather, in an article on Cyanogenesis in Plants (Agri. Journ. 

 Ind., 1906, i., pt. iii., 224), states that he has obtained prussic acid from the 

 seeds of vdl by simply allowing the crushed seeds to remain a few hours 

 in cold water. [Cf. Leather, Agri. Ledg., 1901, No. 10, 361 ; 1903, No. 7, 

 152, 155, 166.] 



D.E.P., DURIO ZIBETHINUS, DC. ; Fl. Br. Ind., i.; 351 ; Gamble, 



iii., 198. Man. Ind. Timbs., 1902, 92 ; Brandis, Ind. Trees, 78. MALVACEAE. The 

 Durian. Durian, duren, duyin. A large tree native of the Malay Peninsula, though 

 wild and cultivated in Tenasserim. 



The earliest European mention of this fruit appears to be that of Nicolo 

 Conti (Ind. in the 15th Century (ed. Hakl. Soc., Major, transl.), 9), and the first 

 botanical drawing of it would seem to be that given by Jacobus Bontius, 

 1629 (Hist. Nat. et Med. Ind. Or., in Piso, Ind. Utri. re Nat. et Med., 1658, 118), 

 though a crude representation of the tree and its fruit was given by Acosta 

 (Tract, de las Drogas, 1578, 231). Garcia de Orta (1563, Coll., xx.) very cor- 

 rectly describes the fruit as agreeable to some, repulsive to others. Linschoten 

 (Voy. E. Ind. (ed. Hakl. Soc.), 1598, ii., 51-3, 68) remarks that no fruit in the 

 world is to be compared with it, and Pyrard (Voy. E. Ind. (ed. Hakl. Soc.), 

 1601, ii., 366) affirms that the Indians " esteem this fruit to be one of the best 

 and daintiest in the Indies." A similar opinion is given by Mandelslo (Travels, 

 in Olearius, Hist. Muscovy, etc., 1639, 149), while Herbert (Travels Ind., 1677, 

 334) mentions it among the fruits of Mangalore. 



In size it is 10 inches by 7, has a cream-coloured fleshy aril or pulp enveloping 

 the seeds. The smell is most offensive, but the fruit is highly prized, even by 

 Europeans, when the prejudice against it is once overcome. {Cf. Wallace, Malay 

 Arch., 57.] The plant thrives well in Burma, where it is cultivated both in gardens 

 in or near the villages and on the hillsides. The garden cultivation is largely 

 in the hands of the Chinese, but the fruit produced is inferior to that from the 

 hills. It sometimes sells in Moulmein at Us. 20-30 per 1,000. [Cf. Rept. Settl. 



510 



Madras. 



Garden Crop. 



Mysore. 



Burma. 



Food. 



Substitute for 

 French Beans. 



Nutrient Value. 



Poiaon. 



