Scientists sniff out the substances behind the aroma in the 'king of fruits'

Martin Steinhaus and colleagues explain that durian, available in Asian food shops in the United States and elsewhere, has a creamy yellowish flesh that can be eaten fresh or used in cakes, ice cream and other foods. Some people relish the durian's smell. Others, however, regard it as nauseating, like rotten onions. Past research identified almost 200 volatile substances in durian. Lacking, however, was information on which of those make a contribution to the characteristic durian smell. The authors set out to identify the big chemical players in the durian's odor signature.

In doing so, they pinpointed 41 highly odor-active compounds, 24 of which scientists had not identified in durian before. Among the most prominent were substances associated with fruity, sweet, sulfurous and oniony smells. The oniony smelling odorants belonged to a compound class that had rarely been found in food before. Four of the newly discovered chemical compounds were previously unknown to science.