How to distinguish naturally ripened durian and chemically sprayed durian?
There are many ways to distinguish such as gently pressing on the stem, squeezing to check the softness of the thorns or smelling the durian.
Below are the signs to distinguish between naturally ripened durian and chemically ripened durian.
May and June are the months when durians begin to enter the season. Durians are shipped to all provinces and cities to satisfy the cravings of many durian addicts. However, not all durians that reach consumers ripen naturally. Some traders disregard human health to make a profit by using chemicals to keep durians fresh for a long time.
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If the durian is chemically ripened, people usually pick the unripe fruit from the tree and bring it home to soak in the chemical. Because it is left for a longer time, the stem often wilts, rots or falls off. Meanwhile, with naturally ripened durian, when you gently press the stem with your finger, you will feel the stem is wet, even the sap is still flowing out and fresh, the thorns also look fresh, green and hard.
Thorn
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Ripe durian has large, hard thorns, but the tips are slightly rounded, not pointed and tiny. With forced ripe fruit or young fruit, when you squeeze two thorns close together, they will feel soft, when eaten they will not be sweet and delicious, and will easily be hard.
Bark
With the fissures, when you press your hand on the fruit, the flesh is as hard as rock and your hand will have a yellow color as if you just touched dye, then the durian is soaked in chemicals. Naturally ripened durian has softer flesh.
When separating the segments
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When durian is old and ripe, the slits on the fruit split open by themselves. The seller separates the slits very gently and simply. Just gently separate the tail of the fruit and the shell will crack open into segments.
Young durians require a lot of effort to separate the segments. Therefore, it is very difficult to peel the durian, so some sellers only separate the middle part of the fruit for customers to see, but do not separate the bottom part.
Taste
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Chemically soaked durian, when ripe, does not have a strong, characteristic scent, sometimes no scent at all. Naturally ripened durian has a strong fragrance that can be smelled from afar.
Fruit shape
The size does not determine whether the durian is good or bad, but the important part is that the waist of the fruit must be evenly bulging, not crooked.
The fruit is divided into large and clear segments. The durians that are old and starting to ripen have slightly cracked outer shells, giving off a characteristic aroma. Do not choose durians that look too stiff, round like a rugby ball without any segments.
In addition, to know if the durian is delicious, good quality or if it is forced ripened or chemically treated, you can borrow a special opener from the seller to tap on the fruit or hold the durian and shake it gently. If you hear a "bịch bịch" or "bập bộp" sound, the durian is very good. If the tapping sound is harsh like "cống cong" or "bong bong", you should change to another durian.
Scary revelation: If durian is not dipped in chemicals, it is not dared to sell.
The sale of durians dipped in chemicals has angered many people. However, the sellers said they dare not sell durians that have not been dipped in chemicals because if they are sent to the provinces without being dipped in chemicals, they will easily rot and spoil.
