DURIAN CULTIVARS FOR NORTH QUEENSLAND

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Durio zibethinus
FAMILY: Bombacaceae

INTRODUCTION PROGRAMME
Some 30 durian cultivars have been introduced into Australia over the past 13 years. Many of these have been released to nurserymen and growers due to the interest in the crop and scarcity of clonal material.

Preliminary field evaluation has been carried out for a limited number of cultivars and whilst the Department of Primary Industries is as yet unable to recommend commercial durian planting because of lack of long term data on production and market returns, some tentative cultivar recommendations are available.

Some cultivars imported are quite unsatisfactory in relation to quality and growers should consider topworking these to alternative cultivars.

QUALITY DETERMINATIONS
Essential quality characteristics are:

Small seed size is normally consistent with high percentage aril recovery. Fruit picked in advance of 'green mature' state may ripen with unacceptable quality, having sour taste and pale aril colour. Mon Tong however has very good latitude in harvest time and will ripen satisfactorily with sweet taste and good colour even if picked up to 10 days before normal fruit drop. Most other cultivars studied to date do not have this latitude.

CULTIVAR CHOICE
A minimum of 25% aril recovery is deemed to be acceptable. Thus D16, D98, D123, Cipaku and Sitebel cannot be recommended on the basis of information at hand to date. There is a suggestion that D16 imported is not the true D16 selected in Malaysia.

Of those with acceptable quality, Chanee, Chompoo See, Mon Tong, Hew 3, D98 and Limberlost, only Chanee, Chompoo See and Mon Tong have data from a number of seasons.

Some caution is expressed for Chanee which, whilst productive, has a propensity to rots at the distal end of the fruit in wet periods. It also requires excellent judgement of maturity if fruit are to be picked rather than harvested off the ground, since the fruit may ripen with a sour taste and pale aril colour. D96 has flowered over a number of seasons at Kamerunga but appears not to be able to set fruit under our conditions.

Other cultivars in Australia but currently not being screened by D.P.I. are D2, D6, D7, D20, D24, Hepe, Petruk, Jurong, Hew 1, Hew 3, Hew 4, Hew 5, Hew 7 and Hew 8.

FUTURE RECOMMENDATIONS
A number of other cultivars which have been imported but not yet fruited are under observation at Kamerunga and South Johnstone Research Stations. These are Gaan Yaow, KK 8, Gob Yaow, Luang, D102, Parung and Sunan.

At present it is suggested that growers and nurserymen concentrate mainly on Mon Tong, Chompoo See, Hew 3, Chanee and Limberlost.

Cultivars D96, D16, D123, Cipaku and Sitebel are unsatisfactory in terms of information to date and should not be planted pending longer-term information. Existing field planted trees could be inarched with better quality cultivars.

Any plantings made should include at least two and preferably three cultivars to ensure adequate cross pollination for fruit set. However the planting could include up to 90% of one particular cultivar.

TABLE 1
FRUIT CHARACTERISTICS
KAMERUNGA HORTICULTURAL RESEARCH STATION 1987/88 SEASON

CultivarMean Aril Recovery and weightAril ColourAril Texture
Chanee29.5pale yellowmoderately firm
Chompoo See34.3yellowsoft
Mon Tong36.3deep yellowvery firm
Hew 328.9yellowfirm
D1611.1pale yellowfirm
D9832.0yellowfirm
D12312.5pale yellowfirm
Cipaku16.6yellowsoft
Sitebel18.1pale yellowsoft
Limberlost *33.0pale yellowsoft
N.B. * Sourced from Limberlost Nursery
B. J. Watson, Senior Horticulturist
Kamerunga Hort. Research Station

DATE: November 1988

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