The King Of Fruits: 6 Interesting Facts

The King of Fruits and its Health Effects

We know that oranges can boost your immune system; and carrots are good for your eyes! But how much do we know the Durian and its health effects? Here are 6 interesting facts of how the King of Fruits affects your health:

1. Nutritional Content of Durians

The table below shows the nutrition value of 100g of durian pulp¹. As observed, the durian fruit is highly nutritious, containing many types of minerals and trace elements. Durians have high levels of vitamin C and beta carotene. It is noted that the carbohydrate and potassium content of durians are relatively high.

2. The sugar content of Durians

Durian flesh contains high levels of sucrose, fructose and glucose. The concept of the glycemic index (GI) classifies foods based on the blood glucose response after food consumption. High GI diets may have undesirable health effects especially on people with diabetes. Durian flesh is known to have a GI of 49 which is high². To put this into context, see the table² below:

3. How Durian affects your Blood Pressure

A 2016 randomised controlled study by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) involving 32 healthy male subjects (age 20-22 year olds) studied the effects of durian consumption on blood pressure and heart rate. The study found that consuming 250g to 500g of durians had no effect on blood pressure over 24 hours.³

* After removal of the seeds, five pulps of durian flesh weighed 250 g while 10 pulps weighed 500 g.

4. How Durian affects your Heart Rate

The same study found that a consumption of 500g of durians significantly increased the average heart rate of subjects from 80 beats per minute to about 90 beats per minute after 1 hour. However, the heart rate returned to normal after that and remained normal over 24 hours.³

5. How Durian affects your Potassium Levels

Durians have a higher content of Potassium as compared to bananas. The potassium content is 426mg for every 100g of durian flesh versus 358mg in 100g of banana. Over-consumption may lead to hyperkalemia. This medical condition can be threatening to patients with end stage kidney failure as they are unable to excrete potassium efficiently. A case report in 2009 in a Johor Bahru hospital described a 48 year old lady with kidney damage was admitted to the hospital and presented with a heart attack. The doctors discovered that she had high blood levels of potassium. The team found that the patient had consumed durians the day before and that she was late for her previous dialysis session by a day. The patient was treated and discharged after 3 days and was advised not to eat durians anymore.⁴

6. Why do Durians smell?

This health fact is significant to those who either love or hate the smell of durians. The infamous fragrance of durian is traced to its sulphur compounds namely ethanethiol and disulphide derivative². The health effects consuming these sulphur compounds are unknown.