How to distinguish naturally ripened durian and chemically sprayed durian?
There are many ways for you to distinguish such as gently pressing on the stem, squeezing to check the softness of the thorns or smelling the durian.
Below are signs to distinguish between naturally ripened durian and durian soaked in chemicals.
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.
 |
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 long time, the stem often wilts, rots or falls off. Meanwhile, with naturally ripened durian, when you lightly press on the stem with your finger, you will feel the stem is wet, even with sap still flowing out and fresh, the thorns also look fresh, green and hard.
Thorn
 |
Ripe durian has large, hard thorns, but the tips are slightly rounded, not sharp and tiny. With forced ripe fruit or unripe fruit, when you squeeze two thorns close together, they will feel soft, when eaten they will not be sweet and delicious, and will easily become hard.
Bark
With the fissures, when you press your hand on the fruit, you will feel the flesh as hard as rock and your hand will be yellow as if you just touched dye, then it is durian soaked in chemicals. Naturally ripened durian has softer flesh.
When separating segments
 |
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 into segments.
Young durians require a lot of effort to separate the segments. Therefore, it is very difficult to separate the shell from the ripe durian, so some sellers only separate the middle part of the fruit for customers to see, but do not separate the bottom part.
Taste
 |
Durian soaked in chemicals, when ripe, does not have a strong characteristic scent, sometimes no scent at all. Durian ripened naturally has a strong aroma, 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 and not crooked.
The fruit is divided into large and clearly defined segments. Old and ripe durians have slightly cracked outer shells, giving off a distinctive aroma. Avoid durians that are too rigid, round like a rugby ball, and not divided into segments.
In addition, to know if the durian is delicious, good quality or has been ripened by force or dipped in chemicals, 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 delicious. If the tapping sound is hard and harsh like "cống cong" or "bong bong", you should change to another durian.
Scary revelation: If durian is not treated with chemicals, it will not be sold
The story of durians being dipped in chemicals and sold has made many people angry. However, the sellers said they dare not sell durians that have not been dipped in chemicals because if the durians are sent to the provinces without being dipped in chemicals, they will easily rot and spoil.
