Durian

Durian is a unique tropical fruit which is grown in various nations of Southeast Asia, primarily in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Philippines. Its fruit has a very strong aroma which is unbearable for some people, especially those living in the Europe or the USA. Therefore, the fruit is consumed primarily in Asia, particularly China, Hongkong, Taiwan.... “Monthong” of Thailand is the most favorite durian cultivar, which is now growing in various countries, for example, Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines. Flowers of durian arise on lateral and main branches and occasionally on trunk. Anthesis occurs in the afternoon, from 4:00 to 8:30 PM. The peaks of pollen reception of stigma and pollen release of anthers do not overlap, thus hampering fruit setting. In addition, the latter was reported to be influenced by complete or partial self-incompatibility. Therefore, supplemental/ hand pollination is crucial for high fruit set rate as well as high yield. Since 162both flowers and fruits appear on branches, vegetative flushing during the fruit-bearing stage will bring about immature fruit drop and physiological disorders which reduce fruit yield and quality. Fruit physiological disorders appear in different forms, namely, hard flesh with/without decoloring, watery aril, wet core, and tip burn. The period from anthesis or fruit set until harvest varies depending on the variety and climate, on average 90–135 days. In Malaysia, fruits are harvested after being completely ripen and dropping down from the tree. Instead, in Thailand and Vietnam, mature fruits are cut and subjected to ethephon treatment to induce uniform ripening. Year-round production of durian was made possible by manually creating drought condition (applying plastic mulching and complete drainage of irrigation ditch) and foliar spraying with Paclobutrazol at 1000–1500 ppm.