Durio dulcis fruit
Durio dulcis · Malvaceae family
A red-spined Bornean durian encloses dark yellow, sweet, fragrant arils. It deserves an identity beyond a generic durian label.
Find it near DetroitGet to know it
Durio dulcis is a Bornean durian with a red, spiny husk and dark yellow flesh. Its sweet, gooey pulp has a cool minty finish and a powerful scent. The red is on the outside; the reward inside is a thin layer around each large seed.
What it is
The rounded fruit reaches 15 cm (6 in) across. Its husk runs from dark red to reddish brown, with slender spines. Inside, brown seeds wear a coat of dark yellow flesh, called an aril.
There is little flesh for the size of the seed. It is stringy and gooey, with sweetness followed by a mint-like coolness.
Where it comes from
Durio dulcis comes from Borneo, including Sabah and Kalimantan. It grows in the forest and is occasionally planted for fruit. Names used on the island include lahong and layung; in Iban it is durian isa. A small number of trees also grow in Far North Queensland, Australia.
How it's eaten where it grows
At Simpang Palas in Sarawak, one seller opens the fruit with a small machete: its tough shell doesn’t give way to the usual twisting along a durian’s seams. The fruit is usually whacked in half, and the soft, gooey flesh is scraped out with the fingers and eaten fresh around the seeds.
How it's grown
In Borneo’s lowland forest, the trees grow scattered among other forest trees on sandy clay and clay loams. Broad, flared roots support the trunk, and pink flowers cluster on older branches. At a family farm near Simpang Palas, the owner’s father planted three new trees from the seeds of a dying old one.
When and where you'll find it
In Sarawak, whole fruit has been sold in piles at a roadside durian stall at Simpang Palas, on the road from Limbang to the Brunei border. Beyond Borneo, a small Far North Queensland crop was sold as whole fruit by a Sydney seller for delivery on 25 February 2021.
Get it near Detroit
What it tastes like
Durio dulcis has very sweet, fragrant arils — stringy and gooey, with little pulp around large seeds, and a strong, medicinal aroma with minty notes. It's quite different from the creamy, abundant flesh of common commercial durian.
The aril is very sweet and fragrant; the whole fruit has a strong smell.
Choose, eat
1ChooseRed to red-brown spiny exterior
Look for
- Red to red-brown spiny exterior
Durio dulcis has a red to red-brown spiny exterior.
2EatAril
Eat
ArilThe aril around the seed is the edible part.
Detroit, Michigan
When it’s good hereUsual monthsJust arrivedAt their bestLast chanceAll yearWhere it is in its usual monthsToday, Oct 22Grown hereIn season in your stateShips fromIn season where it grows
10 names in 7 languages
- lahongroot
Strange but trueHistoryNature
Sources
Sources
Durio dulcis fruit · Fruitopia · checked Sep 22, 2026
What we don't know yet
A Queensland seller's past offer of Durio dulcis has been discontinued.