ABSTRACT
In the wild interior Borneo areas of Sabahan (and Sarawakian and Bruneian) regions, there lies the legendary Red Dalit Durian (or its very closely-related ‘Durian Merah’ in the Durio family). They are characterized by their yellow, orange and red gaudy-colored flesh. They were eaten as wild durians before intentions for commodification, commercialization, branding and marketing started for these durians. Sabahan politicians like Kuamut state assemblyman Datuk Masiung Banah are lobbying for these durians to become a major agro-tourism symbol and profitable crop. The stakeholders are capitalizing on the fruits' nutritional value, lighter odors, rarity, creamier and healthier (lower sugar) qualities for success. The slight alcoholic taste of the Dalit Durians may also appeal to some durian foodies. However, to capitalize on such qualities, the stakeholders must do more marketing for awareness of these fruits, conduct more studies on them, preserve their natural environment to protect the species and understand their nutritional contents in a more intense and detailed manner. They must understand the benefits of the minerals offered by these fruits, such as potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, and other trace minerals, in addition to ascorbic acid, carotenoids, antioxidants, and phenolics/flavonoids. Farmers must also overcome the unpredictable fruiting schedules of the wild Sabahan Red Dalit Durians and their quality of not dropping from trees upon maturing, thus necessitating professional climbers to extract the fruit. The stakeholders hope to produce improved hybrids that have shorter and more shaded trees for convenient harvesting.
Keywords: Red, Dalit Durian, Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia, Dalit
INTRODUCTION TO THE RED (AND ORANGE) DALIT DURIAN
The durian crop in general has been a mature industry and is regarded a super-potential crop for Southeast Asian countries. Singapore in fact continues to be a major export destination for Malaysian durians. Agriculture and Food Security Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu in October 2025 indicated that China is the largest major export destination with durians exports pegged at RM1.19 billion (approximately 300 million USD) in 2023, followed by Hong Kong (RM 101 million or about 25 million USD), Singapore (RM 76 million or 19 million USD), Indonesia (RM 58 million or approximately 15 million USD) and the United States (RM 35.4 million or about 9 million USD) (The Star, 2025).
For Malaysia, its commercial crop offerings have a premium twist as its musang varieties is now seen as one of the world’s most desired upscale durians. In fact, some even nickname it as a ‘Hermes of Durians’ (Koh, 2026), very much aligning with the super-potential of the crop. At times, when Malaysia palm oil, rubber and cocoa prices softened, durian in general presents itself as a promising crop (Office of the Deputy Vice Chancellor Research & Innovation, 2021). In May 2019, Malaysian durian exports also took off when frozen durians were given approval to be exported to China, eventually becoming the world’s largest durian consumer market. There is demand for both durians as well as processed durian products from China and Singapore, amongst two of the largest importers.
It is projected that international demand and trade for all species of durians may expand to more than US$25 billion by 2030, motivated mainly by China consumption and international trade in all types of durians is projected to hit at least 2 billion kilograms by 2030, without even including the expansion of Chinese consumption per capita (Office of the Deputy Vice Chancellor Research & Innovation, 2021). International trade is projected to hit 4.5 million kilograms by 2030 if Chinese durian consumption and imports continue to expand (Office of the Deputy Vice Chancellor Research & Innovation, 2021).
The potential and exportation story of the Malaysian durian is now a familiar one. Aside from the commercial super-potential of commercialized Malaysian durians, there is some nascent interest in wild durians like the Dalit Durians in Sabah found in East Malaysia, for durian afficionados and the local tourism industry. In local Borneo parlance, the naturally-growing variety of the Red Dalit Durians are known locally as the sukang (the red-fleshed Sabahan Dalit of the Durio graveolens species) which was the original wild Red Durian before commercialized branding and marketing started for its cultivated cloned version (Tek, 2026).
Scientifically, Dalit Durians belongs to the Durio graveolens scientific family name and is one of the human-consumable Durio species found in Borneo (either in the wild native form or in semi-cultivated Sabahan regions (Nur Fashareena Datu Md. Quoin, 2019). Durio graveolens is further classified into ‘Dalit’ and ‘Durian Merah’ which is closely related to Dalit. Aside from the Sabahan Dalit Durians, Malaysia is also strategizing making Borneo’s unusual Durian Merah a major agro-tourism attractor and commercialized money-making crop (Hoang, 2026). ‘Merah’ means ‘red’ in the Malay language and is said to be a specie of Durio graveolens family and a close relative of the Dalit Durian found in both Sabah and Sarawak (Hoang, 2026), sometimes mentioned interchangeably in popular terms and in journalistic writings.
Aside from Sabah, ‘Dalit’ is also known as ‘Durian Kuning’ in Sarawak and Brunei, and all these subcategories of durians have flesh that range from yellow and orange to red in color and are mainly found growing in the interior Sabahan areas of East Malaysia (Nur Fashareena Datu Md. Quoin, 2019). Both the Red and Orange-fleshed durians are known generally as ‘Dalit Durians’ in Sabah. However, the orange-fleshed Dalit Durian is noted by food commentators as not having the same level of fame as their Red Dalit counterparts (Tek, 2026). Henceforth in this writing, the term ‘Red Dalit durians’ will be used to refer to the most popular edible Dalit Durians of the Durio family.
The story of the Dalit durians is not as known to durian consumers and has been trending recently due to its exotic appearance, taste, colour of the flesh and hearsay/legends and their role in drawing and attracting tourism. Thus, this writing wants to capture a snapshot of such wild exotic products on the cusp of being promoted as off-the-beaten track durians and its attention provided by local politicians praising its qualities and potential for attracting durian tourism. It does not pretend to be comprehensive and taps into emerging but limited secondary sources on this product offering.
For seasoned Malaysian food critics, unlike the clones and cultivated (perhaps even over-commercialized) Musang King, Tekka, Ang He, Blackthorn or Tupai King, the wild Borneo red-fleshed Dalit Durian did not originally aim to be a “premium” product (Tek, 2026). Sabahan politicians want to change that. Kuamut state assemblyman Datuk Masiung Banah lobbied the Sabahan state’s Agriculture Department to implement more intense research into the Red Dalit Durian’s nutritional benefits (Hoang, 2026). Masiung is even lobbying for the Red Dalit Durian to turn into the main crop in Sabah (Vanar, 2026).
In addition to nutritional value, compared to the usual yellow-fleshed Dalit durians, the outstanding red color flesh of Red Dalit Durian gives off a lighter pungent odor, a less wet texture and more subtle sweetness (Hoang, 2026). The Sabah Red Dalit Durian is considered novel, rare and limited in number so more alluring to rare food fans/tourists, and are healthier low-sugar durians (Hoang, 2026).
The subtle fragrance of the Red Dalit Durian is described by food critics as durians that: “…does not perfume the street, dominate the room, or insist on being acknowledged. It offers presence, not provocation. No olfactory mugging at close range. It doesn’t leap out of the husk shouting for attention. It behaves. It waits. It clears its throat politely and introduces itself the way a Sabahan uncle would – calmly, confidently, and without raising his voice, because shouting, he knows, is unnecessary” (Tek, 2026).
In terms of physical appearance, the Red Dalit fruits are smaller, longer-spiked, and forest-originated with creamy-textured, nutty, and sometimes slightly alcoholic taste (Tek, 2026). The Borneo Post (the regional broadsheet)’s editorial describes the flesh of the Red Dalit Durian in the following manner: “The husk opens. The flesh glows. Red. Proper red. Not metaphorical red. Not marketing red. The kind of red that makes your brain pause mid-sentence. Occasionally orange-coloured” (Tek, 2026).
Another attraction of the Red Dalit Durian is its unpredictable random flavor. Duane Evans, chairperson of the Sabah Durian and Tropical Fruit Planters Association, indicated Dalit Durians in general are “intriguing” with a hint of unpredictability: “The colours and the (flavours of dalit) – it’s like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to taste” (Goh, 2025).
In Sabah, the Red Dalit Durian grows wildly in the interior Sabahan highlands and along the Crocker Range where the high altitudes, rainforest environment and patience for Mother Nature produce the right conditions of these fruits (Tek, 2026). But Sabahan farmers want to change this obscurity into a commodified crop. Durian cultivator Chee Vun Keong whose orchard plantation in Beaufort Town has about 50 Red Dalit Durian trees argued: “(The red [Dalit] durians) are not heaty (and) they are lower in sugar – unlike the premium durians that could cause hypertension if you eat too much” (Goh, 2025).
According to scientific academic sources, Sarawak, and Borneo in general, hosts 16 unique Durio species (50% consumable by humans), with only the Durio zibethinus cultivated (Sujang, Ramaiya, Lee and Zakaria, 2024). Despite their nutritional and economic value to the Sarawakian forest communities (including the Sungais), these native durians are not well-studied in the scientific literature and may face potential extinction in nature (Sujang, Ramaiya, Lee and Zakaria, 2024) if nothing is done to conserve them.
Some researchers tried to carry out extensive chemical analyses of these wild edible durians and the results indicated that most of the wild Durio durians have a sugar composition mostly of sucrose (67.38% to 96.96%), with the exception of the Red Dalit Durians famed for its low total sugar content (0.49 ± 0.17 g per 100 g) (Sujang, Ramaiya, Lee and Zakaria, 2024). In spite of its bland taste, this species has substantially more fat (14.50 ± 0.16%) and fiber (12.30 ± 0.14%) while the Durio Dulcis has more carbohydrate (29.37–30.60%), and its strong fragrance is attributed to its low protein makeup (2.03–2.04%) (Sujang, Ramaiya, Lee and Zakaria, 2024).
These local durians also contain significant daily-needed mineral, with 100 g servings offering about 15.71% to 26.80% of potassium, 71.72% to 86.52% of phosphorus, 9.33% to 27.31% of magnesium, and trace minerals (Sujang, Ramaiya, Lee and Zakaria, 2024). The gaudy yellow, orange and red fleshes of Dalit Durians of the Durio graveolens family and Durio kutejensis show high levels of ascorbic acid (31.41 mg –61.56 mg 100 g−1), carotenoids (976.36–2627.18 µg 100 g−1) and antioxidant elements (Sujang, Ramaiya, Lee and Zakaria, 2024).
From the same studies of the Durio family durians, Durio dulcis and Durio oxleyanus, in spite of their lighter-colored flesh, has high phenolic (67.95–74.77 mg GAE 100 g−1) and flavonoid (8.71–13.81 QE mg 100 g−1) levels (Sujang, Ramaiya, Lee and Zakaria, 2024). All this knowledge generated help to intensify knowledge of the nutritional richness of wild edible red durians, providing scientific knowledge behind their commercialization, commodification and preservation of species (Sujang, Ramaiya, Lee and Zakaria, 2024).
EFFORTS IN CULTIVATION
For most, the Dalit species of durians are a wild, gaudy, shiny genre of durians found locally in Borneo, with bright-colored flesh that range from intense red to brightly-lit orange, yellow or a graduation of these colors and, out of the 13 species in the Dalit family, only five are consumable by human beings (Goh, 2025). Besides these 13 varieties, there are many other endemic species which include rare, exotic and under-researched species (Goh, 2025).
Dalit durians in general are luxurious, creamy with a subtle alcoholic tinge, and not as sweet as the conventional commercialized species with the red-fleshed variety exhibiting subtle fragrance and a pleasant, unexpected intensity of flavor (Goh, 2025). The Red Dalit Durian often fruits annually in the months of December and January, with every tree producing up to 200 fruits (Goh, 2025). Their wild varieties fruit unpredictably. Sabahan wild Red Dalit Durians are known for their randomness in fruiting abruptly and then stop fruiting just as abruptly (Tek, 2026).
Red Dalit Durian is complex to harvest because it does not drop upon maturing and so professional Red Dalit Durian harvesters must ascend tall trees to extract the fruit (Hoang, 2026). This is how the food critics in Sabah describe the harvesting process, conceptualizing it almost as a kind of folklore: “These ones don’t fall when ripe…They cling stubbornly to their branches, defying gravity, defying convenience, defying modern expectations. Someone must climb. Someone must work. In Sabah, even fruit believes in character building. You don’t find red durian. You earn it” (Tek, 2026). It is characterized as a “Fruit that refuses to be convenient” (Tek, 2026).
One way through which Datuk Masiung has lobbied the Malaysian Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Industry (Maffi) to augment Red Dalit Durian cultivation is through producing improved hybrids, such as growing shorter and more shaded trees for convenient harvesting as Red Dalit Durians are conventionally tall in the wild (Hoang, 2026). Quality Red Dalit Durian seeds can be produced by low-lying low-bee trees (Vanar, 2026).
There are other methodologies promoted for improving Red Dalit Durian output. A foundational research study focuses on utilizing modern technology to churn out excellent-quality seeds for large-scale cultivation of Dalit Durians (Hoang, 2026). Grafting techniques could be used to domesticate the fruit and convert it from a seasonal wild fruit plant with heritage value to a major contemporary Sabahan agriculturally-commercialized fruit product (Hoang, 2026). New agronomic grafting methods can help to create varieties with shady seeds in both Sarawak and Sabah (Vanar, 2026).
Durian cultivator Chee Vun Keong whose orchard plantation in Beaufort Town has about 50 red durian trees noted that the Red Dalit Durian cultivars do well thrives in very hot climatic conditions like Sabah (Goh, 2025). Another plus point about the Red Dalit Durian is that the original wild species are resilient, often with resistance against pests and diseases (Goh, 2025).
PROMOTING THE DURIANS
A marketing process needed is to normalize and dispel the mystical perceptions of Red Dalit Durian as an exotic fruit from Borneo Island (Hoang, 2026). [For locals, the Red Dalit Durian is not “exotic” but is described as seasonally familiar (Tek, 2026).] At least for the local Sungai ethnicity, Red Dalit Durian is a traditional food item found across a few northern Sabah districts, in addition to attracting exotic fruit fans in Sabah and Sarawak (Hoang, 2026).
The Red Dalit Durian filling is a traditional source of food particularly for the ethnic Sungai people in Tongod, Kinabatangan, Telupid and Beluran (Vanar, 2026). For the Sungai people, wild Red Dalit Durian is strictly known as a seasonal fruit from the northern district of Sabah (Vanar, 2026). The Sungai ethnic community in general also counts Red Dalit Durian as its traditional food (Nguyen, 2025). The locals in these areas frequently sautéed the Red Dalit Durian’s red-colored flesh with spices to produce a unique sambal which is a kind of fermented chili that is ubiquitous in northern Sabah and potentially enjoys broader Asian consumer interest (Hoang, 2026). The sambal is a very popular dish in northern Sabah and may appeal to the general Asian consumer markets (Nguyen, 2026).
Some commentators on Sabah tourism noted that visitors who came to Sabah to catch a glimpse of orang utans in the Kinabatangan sometimes exit the region talking about dinner served with Red Dalit Durian sambal instead (Tek, 2026). Sabahan commentators argue that the real authentic tourism potential of the Red Dalit Durian lies in its subtle marketing and sales methods that can carefully “anchor a form of tourism that values memory over volume, timing over convenience, stories over slogans” (Tek, 2026). Commentators in Borneo Post like Tek Choon Yee urged tour operators to empower visitors to schedule their trips around fruit seasons (Tek, 2026). Tek then provoke these visitors/tourists to remember their Sabah visit as an experience of what they dared to taste to serve as an intangible form of mental ‘souvenir’ to take home (Tek, 2026).
Unlike modern retail outlets like air-con supermarts, Sabahan durian dealers conventionally sell the Dalit Durians in the traditional way at tamu markets in Ranau, Tambunan, Keningau where they are sold as a seasonal fruit when it is available, and not according to logistical schedules (Tek, 2026). ‘Durian Merahs’ and Red Dalit Durians found in Sandakan have alluring crimson red coloured aril, but its plain taste makes it a candidate for the local cuisine known as tempoyak (Nur Fashareena Datu Md. Quoin, 2019). The price of tempoyak can be as high as RM 100/kg (USD 26 per kg) and so the Sabahan Department of Agriculture initiated farming ‘Durian Merah’ in 2012 to supply the downstream processing industry (Nur Fashareena Datu Md. Quoin, 2019).
The tamu market durian dealers based their supply of Red Dalit Durians on unscheduled rumors and community gossip of when the wild ones are available, without prior any knowledge that allow them to hoist “sold out” or “available” signages (Tek, 2026). Almost like keeping secrets on when these Red Dalit durians are out, the vendors also do not try to hard sell the fruits, instead simply asking customers to “try lah”, or pitching “Season short…Eat first” with minimal warnings like “careful, spiky” shell (Tek, 2026). The subtleties in marketing complement the fruit’s secretive harvest periods.
Sabahan tamus are 'Weekly Markets' that serve as community “meeting place” where people come to barter trade, exchange goods/products, tell stories, and enjoy laughter (Sabah Tourism Board, 2026) and community spirit. Sabah’s tamu markets are located under bridges, in central markets, alongside Gaya Street where Dalit durians can be consumed at breakfast at 10 am (Tek, 2026). Food critics point out that modern-day tourism requires predictable schedules to coalesce tourism around peak seasons of Sabah’s wild Dalit durians but even vendors cannot tell with certainty when the fruit becomes available (Tek, 2026). Such retail spaces and schedule uncertainties may also be changing.
The current Maffi Minister Datuk Jamawi Jaafar is steeped in deep experience with durian farming in general, a fact that many stakeholders felt confident in him leading the marketing of Durian Merah/Red Dalit Durian as a value-added crop to reach its fullest commercial potential (Hoang, 2026). The recent advent of the Red Dalit Durian is a positive development for the East Malaysian state of Sabah which had organized durian bazaars, fests and competitions to market its local produce (Goh, 2025). It wants to be a regional hub of such events in the global landscape (Goh, 2025).
In 2025, 13 genres of the thorny, strong-smelling fruit vied for the top prize in Sabah’s yearly durian competition through points given for aesthetics/shapes, color, fragrance, taste, and seed sizes (Goh, 2025). The pumpkin-shaped Keningau King from Keningau characterized by thick yellow flesh and small seeds was crowned the champion durian (Goh, 2025). Durian entries that were not submitted for competition appealed positively delicious to some of the evaluators’ taste senses, including for example the wild Red Dalits found locally in the Borneo region (Goh, 2025).
At the busy Todak Waterfront bazaar in the Sabahan capital city Kota Kinabalu, the 2024 champion durian’s producer De Green Farm experienced strong business interest, particularly from tourists. De Green Farm was also able to market Tenom Beauty which is a natural cross-species that hybridized from Durian Merah and Durian putih (Durio zebithinus) and it also exhibited bright red flesh (Goh, 2025). De Green Farm’s chairwoman, Tracy Liew, articulated: “Many tourists from China are looking for Sabah durians, especially the Tenom Beauty, because it’s very authentic and unique to Sabah” (Goh, 2025).
The Sabahan durian activities lure agriculturalists, including large and small-scale, orchard plantation bosses to minors farmers, to display Sabah’s unique durian species that are not available outside Borneo (Goh, 2025). Sabah’s regional durian hub ambitions hope to tap into its strong biodiversity and growing consumer clamor for both farmed and wild durians (Goh, 2025). While not widely known yet as a commodified crop, the Red Dalit Durian symbolizes Sabah’s rich biodiversity and cultural significance for its local communities (Goh, 2025).
Possible development pathways. There is a multi-stakeholder approach here. To achieve the ambition of making Sabah a durian hub, the government is working with tour firms and cultivators to record down tourism experiences during orchard tours, durian-tasting sessions, educational programmes, reading the guidebooks related to durian heritage and history (Goh, 2025). Through marketing cultivated hybrids and wild local species, Sabah aims to augment tourism while generating more income for local farmers (Goh, 2015). The Red Dalit Durian is a crop in the Sabahan agricultural development program to improve the social and economic standings of farmers in Sabahan countryside (Nur Fashareena Datu Md. Quoin, 2019).
Ecotourism strategies and supporting measures. The core concept of eco-tourism is sustainability. In order to benefit from Red Dalit Durian’s attraction, given that it is a mainly wild durian specie at this moment, its natural habit must be kept pristine. But, the ecosystem of wild Red Dalit Durians is in danger of climate change impact and human activities (Goh, 2025). Dayang Nur Fashareena Datu Md Noor, a researcher at the Department of Agriculture Sabah, warned: “Too much rain is not good for durians. Deforestation (and) rapid development will also destroy the natural habitat of the durian” (Goh, 2025). To conserve this precious ecological asset, the Sabahan authorities urged cultivators to register for geographical identification to combat exploitation or misrepresentation of these Red Dalit Durian species in future (Goh, 2025). Therefore, this would be the first step for the stakeholders of the Dalit Durians to take if they want to have a sustainable eco-tourism industry centred on the wild Dalit durians.
After the geographical tracking system is put in place, accountability of wild durian trees’ numbers and habitat become possible. The next step would be to determine how to introduce eco-tourists sustainably into those areas without damaging the environment if there is political will to carry out sustainable Dalit Durian eco-tourism. At least three points would be considered: how can the collected tourist revenues benefit local communities through a transparent accounting system for revenues; the determination of tourists numbers that can be sustainably supported by the natural Dalit habitat without any permanent damage through digital tracking, big data collection, facial recognition software and AI monitoring for accurate assessments of tourist numbers allowed into the Dalit nature reserves; and appropriate training of park rangers to monitor tourism impact by learning from more advanced partners in the eco-tourism sector like ASEAN Plus Three partner of Japan, international organizations like WWE, etc.
The same Industry 4.0 digital technologies that can track tourist numbers are also the sensors that can collect big data. From the collected big data, data analytics can be carried out to determine future intake of tourists, reactions of the natural environment to the managed commercial eco-tourism activities, and the comfort level of local communities in receiving incoming foreign/local tourists. These measures will be increasingly important as the post-pandemic tourism landscape trends towards experiential tourism, where experiences like walking through a Dalit nature trail is appealing to international tourists, instead of purely commercial activities and/or commodified experiences.
Certification. Registering their Dalit durian species both domestically and internationally can protect their products’ intellectual property and strengthen the branding, as suggested by the Malaysian Intellectual Property Corporation (Nguyen, 2026). The Malaysian Intellectual Property Corporation encouraged more farmer associations, producers and state governments to examine geographical indication registration for unique durian species found in specific regions of Malaysia (Nguyen, 2026).
Geographical indication indicates the geographical origins of a product and its quality, branding or unique features are intimately related to that area (Nguyen, 2026). Yusnieza Syarmila Yusoff, director-general of the state corporation highlighted: "Geographical indication protection enables genuine producers to enjoy stronger branding and premium market pricing because consumers recognize the authenticity and unique qualities linked to the specific geographical origin" (Nguyen, 2026). Up to Feb 2026, Musang King, Black Thorn, Balik Pulau, and Durian Nyekak have been registered and some expect the number to increase to 128 counts of durian species (Nguyen, 2026).
The Malaysian procedure for registering Geographical Indication (GI) application for the Dalit Durians can follow the precedents set by other Malaysian premium durians like the Musang. Application can be made to Malaysian government's intellectual property (IP) department (Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia or MyIPO) with additional statement that such IPR (intellectual property rights) should be widened beyond Malaysia. This filing must be done by a Malaysian or Malaysia-approved foreign IPR legal personnel. Similarly, branding can be registered so that only owner-licensed entities can use a trademarked brand name.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
Overall, there is significance in studying Red Dalit Durians. While such durians may not be as established as the abovementioned commercialized ones, it may be important to examine their emergence as Malaysian durians in general tends to be associated with premium offerings like the now well-known musang variety. Certainly, the interest amongst durian afficionados of the Red Dalit wild variety merits a preliminary look at their potentiality. Moreover, even though this Red Dalit Durian is a wild species with unstable phenotypes and different from the cultivar varieties, wild varieties may potentially be the promising starters for cultivation later on. Afterall, the current premium variety of durians, the musang, were originally wild durians. Sabahan marketing competitions to introduce the local produce like the Red Dalit Durians can also spur entrepreneurial spirit and a sense of community amongst the locals in promoting their own local durians. Identity-building can therefore be potentially boosted in the process.
In addition, with greater awareness of these durians and, should commercialized cultivation become possible, there could be more market-driven research into the Red Dalit Durians for their nutritional value. This could reinforce the branding and reputation of such wild durians. In addition to understanding more of their health benefits, greater awareness of such wild durians can assist in conservation efforts, given that Sarawak and Sabah have some of the most ancient primary forests in the world. They are part of the ‘lungs of the Earth’ in the Malay Archipelago, alongside the Amazonian forests, producing oxygen for the world. Understanding the wild durians and creating awareness through eco-tourism can also help in their conservation and eventual cultivation. Thus, the warning from the Sabahan Department of Agriculture related to the wild durians’ environs is timely indeed.
Second, these durians hold the promising for augmenting the local economies of East Malaysia through tourism. For years, the resource-rich East Malaysia economic development lagged behind West Malaysia but its natural landscapes and rich Iban/Dusun/Dayak/Kadazan/Orang Ulu cultures remain attractive features for tourism. Thus, aligned with such tourism attractions, exotic Red Dalit Durians can potentially contribute to drawing durians fans to the region as well. This can provide a source of revenue for the local community, especially if it is a sustainable form of tourism and fund local infrastructure projects, which lags behind West Malaysia. This potential has certainly attracted the attention of low politicians, national media and social influencers.
Finally, in the contemporary era, where much products and services (including tourism) are highly commodified/standardized/commercialized, consuming exotic wild (wild for now) Red Dalit durians is also a form of nostalgia tourism where durians are still purchased in local markets, pushcarts under bridges, market hawkers, and other off-the-beaten track sites. Together with nostalgia tourism, it is also a form of experiential tourism which is a global trend in tourism today, where the experience of haggling with streetside hawkers in a traditional Southeast Asian bazaar setting while soaking in the sights and feel of a local small-town locale is altogether an experience by itself.
REFERENCES
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Enter the Red Durian and its Potentiality
ABSTRACT
In the wild interior Borneo areas of Sabahan (and Sarawakian and Bruneian) regions, there lies the legendary Red Dalit Durian (or its very closely-related ‘Durian Merah’ in the Durio family). They are characterized by their yellow, orange and red gaudy-colored flesh. They were eaten as wild durians before intentions for commodification, commercialization, branding and marketing started for these durians. Sabahan politicians like Kuamut state assemblyman Datuk Masiung Banah are lobbying for these durians to become a major agro-tourism symbol and profitable crop. The stakeholders are capitalizing on the fruits' nutritional value, lighter odors, rarity, creamier and healthier (lower sugar) qualities for success. The slight alcoholic taste of the Dalit Durians may also appeal to some durian foodies. However, to capitalize on such qualities, the stakeholders must do more marketing for awareness of these fruits, conduct more studies on them, preserve their natural environment to protect the species and understand their nutritional contents in a more intense and detailed manner. They must understand the benefits of the minerals offered by these fruits, such as potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, and other trace minerals, in addition to ascorbic acid, carotenoids, antioxidants, and phenolics/flavonoids. Farmers must also overcome the unpredictable fruiting schedules of the wild Sabahan Red Dalit Durians and their quality of not dropping from trees upon maturing, thus necessitating professional climbers to extract the fruit. The stakeholders hope to produce improved hybrids that have shorter and more shaded trees for convenient harvesting.
Keywords: Red, Dalit Durian, Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia, Dalit
INTRODUCTION TO THE RED (AND ORANGE) DALIT DURIAN
The durian crop in general has been a mature industry and is regarded a super-potential crop for Southeast Asian countries. Singapore in fact continues to be a major export destination for Malaysian durians. Agriculture and Food Security Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu in October 2025 indicated that China is the largest major export destination with durians exports pegged at RM1.19 billion (approximately 300 million USD) in 2023, followed by Hong Kong (RM 101 million or about 25 million USD), Singapore (RM 76 million or 19 million USD), Indonesia (RM 58 million or approximately 15 million USD) and the United States (RM 35.4 million or about 9 million USD) (The Star, 2025).
For Malaysia, its commercial crop offerings have a premium twist as its musang varieties is now seen as one of the world’s most desired upscale durians. In fact, some even nickname it as a ‘Hermes of Durians’ (Koh, 2026), very much aligning with the super-potential of the crop. At times, when Malaysia palm oil, rubber and cocoa prices softened, durian in general presents itself as a promising crop (Office of the Deputy Vice Chancellor Research & Innovation, 2021). In May 2019, Malaysian durian exports also took off when frozen durians were given approval to be exported to China, eventually becoming the world’s largest durian consumer market. There is demand for both durians as well as processed durian products from China and Singapore, amongst two of the largest importers.
It is projected that international demand and trade for all species of durians may expand to more than US$25 billion by 2030, motivated mainly by China consumption and international trade in all types of durians is projected to hit at least 2 billion kilograms by 2030, without even including the expansion of Chinese consumption per capita (Office of the Deputy Vice Chancellor Research & Innovation, 2021). International trade is projected to hit 4.5 million kilograms by 2030 if Chinese durian consumption and imports continue to expand (Office of the Deputy Vice Chancellor Research & Innovation, 2021).
The potential and exportation story of the Malaysian durian is now a familiar one. Aside from the commercial super-potential of commercialized Malaysian durians, there is some nascent interest in wild durians like the Dalit Durians in Sabah found in East Malaysia, for durian afficionados and the local tourism industry. In local Borneo parlance, the naturally-growing variety of the Red Dalit Durians are known locally as the sukang (the red-fleshed Sabahan Dalit of the Durio graveolens species) which was the original wild Red Durian before commercialized branding and marketing started for its cultivated cloned version (Tek, 2026).
Scientifically, Dalit Durians belongs to the Durio graveolens scientific family name and is one of the human-consumable Durio species found in Borneo (either in the wild native form or in semi-cultivated Sabahan regions (Nur Fashareena Datu Md. Quoin, 2019). Durio graveolens is further classified into ‘Dalit’ and ‘Durian Merah’ which is closely related to Dalit. Aside from the Sabahan Dalit Durians, Malaysia is also strategizing making Borneo’s unusual Durian Merah a major agro-tourism attractor and commercialized money-making crop (Hoang, 2026). ‘Merah’ means ‘red’ in the Malay language and is said to be a specie of Durio graveolens family and a close relative of the Dalit Durian found in both Sabah and Sarawak (Hoang, 2026), sometimes mentioned interchangeably in popular terms and in journalistic writings.
Aside from Sabah, ‘Dalit’ is also known as ‘Durian Kuning’ in Sarawak and Brunei, and all these subcategories of durians have flesh that range from yellow and orange to red in color and are mainly found growing in the interior Sabahan areas of East Malaysia (Nur Fashareena Datu Md. Quoin, 2019). Both the Red and Orange-fleshed durians are known generally as ‘Dalit Durians’ in Sabah. However, the orange-fleshed Dalit Durian is noted by food commentators as not having the same level of fame as their Red Dalit counterparts (Tek, 2026). Henceforth in this writing, the term ‘Red Dalit durians’ will be used to refer to the most popular edible Dalit Durians of the Durio family.
The story of the Dalit durians is not as known to durian consumers and has been trending recently due to its exotic appearance, taste, colour of the flesh and hearsay/legends and their role in drawing and attracting tourism. Thus, this writing wants to capture a snapshot of such wild exotic products on the cusp of being promoted as off-the-beaten track durians and its attention provided by local politicians praising its qualities and potential for attracting durian tourism. It does not pretend to be comprehensive and taps into emerging but limited secondary sources on this product offering.
For seasoned Malaysian food critics, unlike the clones and cultivated (perhaps even over-commercialized) Musang King, Tekka, Ang He, Blackthorn or Tupai King, the wild Borneo red-fleshed Dalit Durian did not originally aim to be a “premium” product (Tek, 2026). Sabahan politicians want to change that. Kuamut state assemblyman Datuk Masiung Banah lobbied the Sabahan state’s Agriculture Department to implement more intense research into the Red Dalit Durian’s nutritional benefits (Hoang, 2026). Masiung is even lobbying for the Red Dalit Durian to turn into the main crop in Sabah (Vanar, 2026).
In addition to nutritional value, compared to the usual yellow-fleshed Dalit durians, the outstanding red color flesh of Red Dalit Durian gives off a lighter pungent odor, a less wet texture and more subtle sweetness (Hoang, 2026). The Sabah Red Dalit Durian is considered novel, rare and limited in number so more alluring to rare food fans/tourists, and are healthier low-sugar durians (Hoang, 2026).
The subtle fragrance of the Red Dalit Durian is described by food critics as durians that: “…does not perfume the street, dominate the room, or insist on being acknowledged. It offers presence, not provocation. No olfactory mugging at close range. It doesn’t leap out of the husk shouting for attention. It behaves. It waits. It clears its throat politely and introduces itself the way a Sabahan uncle would – calmly, confidently, and without raising his voice, because shouting, he knows, is unnecessary” (Tek, 2026).
In terms of physical appearance, the Red Dalit fruits are smaller, longer-spiked, and forest-originated with creamy-textured, nutty, and sometimes slightly alcoholic taste (Tek, 2026). The Borneo Post (the regional broadsheet)’s editorial describes the flesh of the Red Dalit Durian in the following manner: “The husk opens. The flesh glows. Red. Proper red. Not metaphorical red. Not marketing red. The kind of red that makes your brain pause mid-sentence. Occasionally orange-coloured” (Tek, 2026).
Another attraction of the Red Dalit Durian is its unpredictable random flavor. Duane Evans, chairperson of the Sabah Durian and Tropical Fruit Planters Association, indicated Dalit Durians in general are “intriguing” with a hint of unpredictability: “The colours and the (flavours of dalit) – it’s like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to taste” (Goh, 2025).
In Sabah, the Red Dalit Durian grows wildly in the interior Sabahan highlands and along the Crocker Range where the high altitudes, rainforest environment and patience for Mother Nature produce the right conditions of these fruits (Tek, 2026). But Sabahan farmers want to change this obscurity into a commodified crop. Durian cultivator Chee Vun Keong whose orchard plantation in Beaufort Town has about 50 Red Dalit Durian trees argued: “(The red [Dalit] durians) are not heaty (and) they are lower in sugar – unlike the premium durians that could cause hypertension if you eat too much” (Goh, 2025).
According to scientific academic sources, Sarawak, and Borneo in general, hosts 16 unique Durio species (50% consumable by humans), with only the Durio zibethinus cultivated (Sujang, Ramaiya, Lee and Zakaria, 2024). Despite their nutritional and economic value to the Sarawakian forest communities (including the Sungais), these native durians are not well-studied in the scientific literature and may face potential extinction in nature (Sujang, Ramaiya, Lee and Zakaria, 2024) if nothing is done to conserve them.
Some researchers tried to carry out extensive chemical analyses of these wild edible durians and the results indicated that most of the wild Durio durians have a sugar composition mostly of sucrose (67.38% to 96.96%), with the exception of the Red Dalit Durians famed for its low total sugar content (0.49 ± 0.17 g per 100 g) (Sujang, Ramaiya, Lee and Zakaria, 2024). In spite of its bland taste, this species has substantially more fat (14.50 ± 0.16%) and fiber (12.30 ± 0.14%) while the Durio Dulcis has more carbohydrate (29.37–30.60%), and its strong fragrance is attributed to its low protein makeup (2.03–2.04%) (Sujang, Ramaiya, Lee and Zakaria, 2024).
These local durians also contain significant daily-needed mineral, with 100 g servings offering about 15.71% to 26.80% of potassium, 71.72% to 86.52% of phosphorus, 9.33% to 27.31% of magnesium, and trace minerals (Sujang, Ramaiya, Lee and Zakaria, 2024). The gaudy yellow, orange and red fleshes of Dalit Durians of the Durio graveolens family and Durio kutejensis show high levels of ascorbic acid (31.41 mg –61.56 mg 100 g−1), carotenoids (976.36–2627.18 µg 100 g−1) and antioxidant elements (Sujang, Ramaiya, Lee and Zakaria, 2024).
From the same studies of the Durio family durians, Durio dulcis and Durio oxleyanus, in spite of their lighter-colored flesh, has high phenolic (67.95–74.77 mg GAE 100 g−1) and flavonoid (8.71–13.81 QE mg 100 g−1) levels (Sujang, Ramaiya, Lee and Zakaria, 2024). All this knowledge generated help to intensify knowledge of the nutritional richness of wild edible red durians, providing scientific knowledge behind their commercialization, commodification and preservation of species (Sujang, Ramaiya, Lee and Zakaria, 2024).
EFFORTS IN CULTIVATION
For most, the Dalit species of durians are a wild, gaudy, shiny genre of durians found locally in Borneo, with bright-colored flesh that range from intense red to brightly-lit orange, yellow or a graduation of these colors and, out of the 13 species in the Dalit family, only five are consumable by human beings (Goh, 2025). Besides these 13 varieties, there are many other endemic species which include rare, exotic and under-researched species (Goh, 2025).
Dalit durians in general are luxurious, creamy with a subtle alcoholic tinge, and not as sweet as the conventional commercialized species with the red-fleshed variety exhibiting subtle fragrance and a pleasant, unexpected intensity of flavor (Goh, 2025). The Red Dalit Durian often fruits annually in the months of December and January, with every tree producing up to 200 fruits (Goh, 2025). Their wild varieties fruit unpredictably. Sabahan wild Red Dalit Durians are known for their randomness in fruiting abruptly and then stop fruiting just as abruptly (Tek, 2026).
Red Dalit Durian is complex to harvest because it does not drop upon maturing and so professional Red Dalit Durian harvesters must ascend tall trees to extract the fruit (Hoang, 2026). This is how the food critics in Sabah describe the harvesting process, conceptualizing it almost as a kind of folklore: “These ones don’t fall when ripe…They cling stubbornly to their branches, defying gravity, defying convenience, defying modern expectations. Someone must climb. Someone must work. In Sabah, even fruit believes in character building. You don’t find red durian. You earn it” (Tek, 2026). It is characterized as a “Fruit that refuses to be convenient” (Tek, 2026).
One way through which Datuk Masiung has lobbied the Malaysian Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Industry (Maffi) to augment Red Dalit Durian cultivation is through producing improved hybrids, such as growing shorter and more shaded trees for convenient harvesting as Red Dalit Durians are conventionally tall in the wild (Hoang, 2026). Quality Red Dalit Durian seeds can be produced by low-lying low-bee trees (Vanar, 2026).
There are other methodologies promoted for improving Red Dalit Durian output. A foundational research study focuses on utilizing modern technology to churn out excellent-quality seeds for large-scale cultivation of Dalit Durians (Hoang, 2026). Grafting techniques could be used to domesticate the fruit and convert it from a seasonal wild fruit plant with heritage value to a major contemporary Sabahan agriculturally-commercialized fruit product (Hoang, 2026). New agronomic grafting methods can help to create varieties with shady seeds in both Sarawak and Sabah (Vanar, 2026).
Durian cultivator Chee Vun Keong whose orchard plantation in Beaufort Town has about 50 red durian trees noted that the Red Dalit Durian cultivars do well thrives in very hot climatic conditions like Sabah (Goh, 2025). Another plus point about the Red Dalit Durian is that the original wild species are resilient, often with resistance against pests and diseases (Goh, 2025).
PROMOTING THE DURIANS
A marketing process needed is to normalize and dispel the mystical perceptions of Red Dalit Durian as an exotic fruit from Borneo Island (Hoang, 2026). [For locals, the Red Dalit Durian is not “exotic” but is described as seasonally familiar (Tek, 2026).] At least for the local Sungai ethnicity, Red Dalit Durian is a traditional food item found across a few northern Sabah districts, in addition to attracting exotic fruit fans in Sabah and Sarawak (Hoang, 2026).
The Red Dalit Durian filling is a traditional source of food particularly for the ethnic Sungai people in Tongod, Kinabatangan, Telupid and Beluran (Vanar, 2026). For the Sungai people, wild Red Dalit Durian is strictly known as a seasonal fruit from the northern district of Sabah (Vanar, 2026). The Sungai ethnic community in general also counts Red Dalit Durian as its traditional food (Nguyen, 2025). The locals in these areas frequently sautéed the Red Dalit Durian’s red-colored flesh with spices to produce a unique sambal which is a kind of fermented chili that is ubiquitous in northern Sabah and potentially enjoys broader Asian consumer interest (Hoang, 2026). The sambal is a very popular dish in northern Sabah and may appeal to the general Asian consumer markets (Nguyen, 2026).
Some commentators on Sabah tourism noted that visitors who came to Sabah to catch a glimpse of orang utans in the Kinabatangan sometimes exit the region talking about dinner served with Red Dalit Durian sambal instead (Tek, 2026). Sabahan commentators argue that the real authentic tourism potential of the Red Dalit Durian lies in its subtle marketing and sales methods that can carefully “anchor a form of tourism that values memory over volume, timing over convenience, stories over slogans” (Tek, 2026). Commentators in Borneo Post like Tek Choon Yee urged tour operators to empower visitors to schedule their trips around fruit seasons (Tek, 2026). Tek then provoke these visitors/tourists to remember their Sabah visit as an experience of what they dared to taste to serve as an intangible form of mental ‘souvenir’ to take home (Tek, 2026).
Unlike modern retail outlets like air-con supermarts, Sabahan durian dealers conventionally sell the Dalit Durians in the traditional way at tamu markets in Ranau, Tambunan, Keningau where they are sold as a seasonal fruit when it is available, and not according to logistical schedules (Tek, 2026). ‘Durian Merahs’ and Red Dalit Durians found in Sandakan have alluring crimson red coloured aril, but its plain taste makes it a candidate for the local cuisine known as tempoyak (Nur Fashareena Datu Md. Quoin, 2019). The price of tempoyak can be as high as RM 100/kg (USD 26 per kg) and so the Sabahan Department of Agriculture initiated farming ‘Durian Merah’ in 2012 to supply the downstream processing industry (Nur Fashareena Datu Md. Quoin, 2019).
The tamu market durian dealers based their supply of Red Dalit Durians on unscheduled rumors and community gossip of when the wild ones are available, without prior any knowledge that allow them to hoist “sold out” or “available” signages (Tek, 2026). Almost like keeping secrets on when these Red Dalit durians are out, the vendors also do not try to hard sell the fruits, instead simply asking customers to “try lah”, or pitching “Season short…Eat first” with minimal warnings like “careful, spiky” shell (Tek, 2026). The subtleties in marketing complement the fruit’s secretive harvest periods.
Sabahan tamus are 'Weekly Markets' that serve as community “meeting place” where people come to barter trade, exchange goods/products, tell stories, and enjoy laughter (Sabah Tourism Board, 2026) and community spirit. Sabah’s tamu markets are located under bridges, in central markets, alongside Gaya Street where Dalit durians can be consumed at breakfast at 10 am (Tek, 2026). Food critics point out that modern-day tourism requires predictable schedules to coalesce tourism around peak seasons of Sabah’s wild Dalit durians but even vendors cannot tell with certainty when the fruit becomes available (Tek, 2026). Such retail spaces and schedule uncertainties may also be changing.
The current Maffi Minister Datuk Jamawi Jaafar is steeped in deep experience with durian farming in general, a fact that many stakeholders felt confident in him leading the marketing of Durian Merah/Red Dalit Durian as a value-added crop to reach its fullest commercial potential (Hoang, 2026). The recent advent of the Red Dalit Durian is a positive development for the East Malaysian state of Sabah which had organized durian bazaars, fests and competitions to market its local produce (Goh, 2025). It wants to be a regional hub of such events in the global landscape (Goh, 2025).
In 2025, 13 genres of the thorny, strong-smelling fruit vied for the top prize in Sabah’s yearly durian competition through points given for aesthetics/shapes, color, fragrance, taste, and seed sizes (Goh, 2025). The pumpkin-shaped Keningau King from Keningau characterized by thick yellow flesh and small seeds was crowned the champion durian (Goh, 2025). Durian entries that were not submitted for competition appealed positively delicious to some of the evaluators’ taste senses, including for example the wild Red Dalits found locally in the Borneo region (Goh, 2025).
At the busy Todak Waterfront bazaar in the Sabahan capital city Kota Kinabalu, the 2024 champion durian’s producer De Green Farm experienced strong business interest, particularly from tourists. De Green Farm was also able to market Tenom Beauty which is a natural cross-species that hybridized from Durian Merah and Durian putih (Durio zebithinus) and it also exhibited bright red flesh (Goh, 2025). De Green Farm’s chairwoman, Tracy Liew, articulated: “Many tourists from China are looking for Sabah durians, especially the Tenom Beauty, because it’s very authentic and unique to Sabah” (Goh, 2025).
The Sabahan durian activities lure agriculturalists, including large and small-scale, orchard plantation bosses to minors farmers, to display Sabah’s unique durian species that are not available outside Borneo (Goh, 2025). Sabah’s regional durian hub ambitions hope to tap into its strong biodiversity and growing consumer clamor for both farmed and wild durians (Goh, 2025). While not widely known yet as a commodified crop, the Red Dalit Durian symbolizes Sabah’s rich biodiversity and cultural significance for its local communities (Goh, 2025).
Possible development pathways. There is a multi-stakeholder approach here. To achieve the ambition of making Sabah a durian hub, the government is working with tour firms and cultivators to record down tourism experiences during orchard tours, durian-tasting sessions, educational programmes, reading the guidebooks related to durian heritage and history (Goh, 2025). Through marketing cultivated hybrids and wild local species, Sabah aims to augment tourism while generating more income for local farmers (Goh, 2015). The Red Dalit Durian is a crop in the Sabahan agricultural development program to improve the social and economic standings of farmers in Sabahan countryside (Nur Fashareena Datu Md. Quoin, 2019).
Ecotourism strategies and supporting measures. The core concept of eco-tourism is sustainability. In order to benefit from Red Dalit Durian’s attraction, given that it is a mainly wild durian specie at this moment, its natural habit must be kept pristine. But, the ecosystem of wild Red Dalit Durians is in danger of climate change impact and human activities (Goh, 2025). Dayang Nur Fashareena Datu Md Noor, a researcher at the Department of Agriculture Sabah, warned: “Too much rain is not good for durians. Deforestation (and) rapid development will also destroy the natural habitat of the durian” (Goh, 2025). To conserve this precious ecological asset, the Sabahan authorities urged cultivators to register for geographical identification to combat exploitation or misrepresentation of these Red Dalit Durian species in future (Goh, 2025). Therefore, this would be the first step for the stakeholders of the Dalit Durians to take if they want to have a sustainable eco-tourism industry centred on the wild Dalit durians.
After the geographical tracking system is put in place, accountability of wild durian trees’ numbers and habitat become possible. The next step would be to determine how to introduce eco-tourists sustainably into those areas without damaging the environment if there is political will to carry out sustainable Dalit Durian eco-tourism. At least three points would be considered: how can the collected tourist revenues benefit local communities through a transparent accounting system for revenues; the determination of tourists numbers that can be sustainably supported by the natural Dalit habitat without any permanent damage through digital tracking, big data collection, facial recognition software and AI monitoring for accurate assessments of tourist numbers allowed into the Dalit nature reserves; and appropriate training of park rangers to monitor tourism impact by learning from more advanced partners in the eco-tourism sector like ASEAN Plus Three partner of Japan, international organizations like WWE, etc.
The same Industry 4.0 digital technologies that can track tourist numbers are also the sensors that can collect big data. From the collected big data, data analytics can be carried out to determine future intake of tourists, reactions of the natural environment to the managed commercial eco-tourism activities, and the comfort level of local communities in receiving incoming foreign/local tourists. These measures will be increasingly important as the post-pandemic tourism landscape trends towards experiential tourism, where experiences like walking through a Dalit nature trail is appealing to international tourists, instead of purely commercial activities and/or commodified experiences.
Certification. Registering their Dalit durian species both domestically and internationally can protect their products’ intellectual property and strengthen the branding, as suggested by the Malaysian Intellectual Property Corporation (Nguyen, 2026). The Malaysian Intellectual Property Corporation encouraged more farmer associations, producers and state governments to examine geographical indication registration for unique durian species found in specific regions of Malaysia (Nguyen, 2026).
Geographical indication indicates the geographical origins of a product and its quality, branding or unique features are intimately related to that area (Nguyen, 2026). Yusnieza Syarmila Yusoff, director-general of the state corporation highlighted: "Geographical indication protection enables genuine producers to enjoy stronger branding and premium market pricing because consumers recognize the authenticity and unique qualities linked to the specific geographical origin" (Nguyen, 2026). Up to Feb 2026, Musang King, Black Thorn, Balik Pulau, and Durian Nyekak have been registered and some expect the number to increase to 128 counts of durian species (Nguyen, 2026).
The Malaysian procedure for registering Geographical Indication (GI) application for the Dalit Durians can follow the precedents set by other Malaysian premium durians like the Musang. Application can be made to Malaysian government's intellectual property (IP) department (Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia or MyIPO) with additional statement that such IPR (intellectual property rights) should be widened beyond Malaysia. This filing must be done by a Malaysian or Malaysia-approved foreign IPR legal personnel. Similarly, branding can be registered so that only owner-licensed entities can use a trademarked brand name.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
Overall, there is significance in studying Red Dalit Durians. While such durians may not be as established as the abovementioned commercialized ones, it may be important to examine their emergence as Malaysian durians in general tends to be associated with premium offerings like the now well-known musang variety. Certainly, the interest amongst durian afficionados of the Red Dalit wild variety merits a preliminary look at their potentiality. Moreover, even though this Red Dalit Durian is a wild species with unstable phenotypes and different from the cultivar varieties, wild varieties may potentially be the promising starters for cultivation later on. Afterall, the current premium variety of durians, the musang, were originally wild durians. Sabahan marketing competitions to introduce the local produce like the Red Dalit Durians can also spur entrepreneurial spirit and a sense of community amongst the locals in promoting their own local durians. Identity-building can therefore be potentially boosted in the process.
In addition, with greater awareness of these durians and, should commercialized cultivation become possible, there could be more market-driven research into the Red Dalit Durians for their nutritional value. This could reinforce the branding and reputation of such wild durians. In addition to understanding more of their health benefits, greater awareness of such wild durians can assist in conservation efforts, given that Sarawak and Sabah have some of the most ancient primary forests in the world. They are part of the ‘lungs of the Earth’ in the Malay Archipelago, alongside the Amazonian forests, producing oxygen for the world. Understanding the wild durians and creating awareness through eco-tourism can also help in their conservation and eventual cultivation. Thus, the warning from the Sabahan Department of Agriculture related to the wild durians’ environs is timely indeed.
Second, these durians hold the promising for augmenting the local economies of East Malaysia through tourism. For years, the resource-rich East Malaysia economic development lagged behind West Malaysia but its natural landscapes and rich Iban/Dusun/Dayak/Kadazan/Orang Ulu cultures remain attractive features for tourism. Thus, aligned with such tourism attractions, exotic Red Dalit Durians can potentially contribute to drawing durians fans to the region as well. This can provide a source of revenue for the local community, especially if it is a sustainable form of tourism and fund local infrastructure projects, which lags behind West Malaysia. This potential has certainly attracted the attention of low politicians, national media and social influencers.
Finally, in the contemporary era, where much products and services (including tourism) are highly commodified/standardized/commercialized, consuming exotic wild (wild for now) Red Dalit durians is also a form of nostalgia tourism where durians are still purchased in local markets, pushcarts under bridges, market hawkers, and other off-the-beaten track sites. Together with nostalgia tourism, it is also a form of experiential tourism which is a global trend in tourism today, where the experience of haggling with streetside hawkers in a traditional Southeast Asian bazaar setting while soaking in the sights and feel of a local small-town locale is altogether an experience by itself.
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