Scientists have discovered what triggers the flowering of the durian, known as the “king of fruits.”
Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University found that around 15 days of dry weather can cause durian trees to flower, with blooms appearing roughly 50 days after the dry spell.
This finding could help improve durian farming and expand our understanding of tropical ecosystems.
Durian is a unique fruit, famous for its strong smell, large size, and spiky shell.
While some people dislike its odor, it is widely loved in Asia and is an essential crop, especially in Malaysia, where it dominates fruit production.
Despite its popularity, many aspects of durian cultivation remain a mystery, including how flowering is triggered.
To learn more, a research team led by Professor Shinya Numata and Aoi Eguchi studied 110 durian plants at an orchard in Malaysia.
They observed both grafted plants and those grown from seeds, comparing the timing of flowering with weather data.
Their research revealed a clear pattern: durian trees flowered about 50 days after a dry period lasting at least 15 days.
During this time, rainfall averaged less than 1 millimeter per day over a 15-day period. Interestingly, the results were consistent across all types of durian plants, whether they were grafted or seed-grown.
The team also found that temperature did not influence flowering, which had previously been suspected.
The study builds on earlier research suggesting that many tropical plants flower after long dry spells.
However, these general flowering events require around 30 days of dryness and happen only every few years. In contrast, durian trees can flower multiple times a year because they need shorter dry spells to trigger flowering.
These findings are not just important for understanding the natural world—they also have practical benefits.
With this information, farmers can better predict when durian trees will flower and manage their harvests more effectively. This could increase production and improve the availability of this valuable fruit.
In addition to its commercial impact, the study sheds light on how tropical ecosystems function. The researchers hope their work will lead to a deeper understanding of how dry weather influences flowering patterns in Southeast Asia’s tropical forests.
This research was supported by a grant from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). The discovery of durian’s flowering trigger marks a significant step forward in both agricultural science and ecological research.
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