A 'Durian Party'

Last weekend, I attended a 'durian party.' It was a last minute suggestion by a friend, prompted by the fact that it is durian season now, and he had a sudden craving for durians. Anyway, some in the group were not fans of durian, while some had to work, or had prior engagements. In the end, there were just three of us. We decided to go ahead anyway.

My friend and I went to buy the durians from this hawker. He gave us a good price for them. The amount came to $60, but he charged us only $50, and gave us one for free, because, it didn't have much flesh in it. The correct term for the flesh should be 'aril', but we mostly just refer to it as the flesh, or pulp.

I did a post on "Durian - The King of Fruits" a couple of days ago. Have a look if you are interested.

Durians have a pungent smell which some people find repulsive. Some go so far as to say they will puke if they smell it. Because of the very strong odour, durians are not allowed in public enclosed areas, or hotels or public transportations. So, unless you have a car, you have to buy durians from stalls near your area.

These were what we bought for our party of three. It was the 'red prawn' cultivar that we went for, (my friend's preference). So, instead of the usual Saturday afternoon tea and cakes when we meet up, we had durians.

The durians were lovely. They were sweet, creamy and custardly. There were from two cultivars - the 'musang king' and the 'red prawn' varieties. The 'red prawn' variety are darker in colour.

Durian, the 'King of Fruits'. You either love it or hate it. Most locals love it. Most foreigners are uncomfortable with the smell. I believe it is an acquired taste, and smell, for that matter. When you grow up eating durians and being around them, you get used to the smell.

There were reports that durian and alcohol do not mix. There have been people who reportedly died after eating durian and drinking alcohol.

There is still no scientific evidence that say eating durian and drinking alcohol will kill you, but research has found that drinking alcohol and eating durian will give you a nasty hangover.

"Durian contains a sulphur compound called Diethyl Disulphide. This compound is thought to hinder the metabolism of alcohol in our bodies. Without allowing the process of breaking down alcohol to take place in our bodies, we allow the toxic acetaldehyde to travel into our blood stream. This is the nasty stuff that exaggerates your hangover symptoms and makes you feel 10X worse."

When a person consumes alcohol, the ethanol from the drink gets turned into toxic in the liver by a “bad enzyme” called Alcohol Dehydrogenase. However, a “good enzyme” called Aldehyde Dehydrogenase will then turn those toxins into more harmless forms like fatty acids or carbon dioxide."

Unfortunately, when you consume durian, the sulphur compound from the fruit halts the good enzyme’s ability to turn toxins into more harmless forms; and this will result in having more poison in your body which can be fatal.

But this isn't enough to kill you, if you are healthy. However, if you have pre-existing health conditions like heart or blood pressure related issues like hypertension or even diabetes, then you should be very careful. Durians can cause the blood pressure and sugar level of people with hypertension and diabetes to shoot up.

If you have both illnesses, and you are eating durians and drinking alcohol at the same time, you will put more poison into your body. Some develop minor complications like headache, vomiting or diarrhoea. Major complications like stroke or heart attack, could result in death.

So, the conclusion is, eating durian and drinking alcohol in itself will not cause death. But if you have pre-existing health conditions, consuming too much durians and alcohol at the same time might bring on a heart attack, or a stroke causing death.

Basically, even if this seasonal fruit is your favourite fruit, don't over consume it, especially in one sitting. As with everything else, moderation is key. It’s always best to be safe than sorry.

The durians will drop off when they are ripe.

Source

The aril, or what we commonly call the flesh, or pulp inside the thorn rind husk.

Source

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