The ‘D24’ and ‘Musang King’ durians from Hulu Terengganu, Setiu and Besut are chosen by the Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (FAMA) to be exported abroad as frozen durian.
Terengganu FAMA director Hasan Jusoh said frozen durian had great potential and highly demanded especially in China because it was considered a premium product among consumers in the country.
He said the vacuum-packed durian pulp was more practical and odorless without changing the taste of the king of fruit.
“In this state, selected durians collected from the three areas will then be sent to the processing centre in Jerantut, Pahang to separate the pulp from the seeds before being made into durian paste in packets. The paste is also sold to ice cream factories.
“Right now, the price of D24 durian paste is RM30 (USD 7.oo) per kg and it is packed in two-kg packs. But for Musang King, it is packed with seeds to maintain its identity and sold at RM100 (USD 23.50) per kg,” he said.
Hasan was speaking to reporters at a campaign to encourage the people to eat more local fruits, organised by Kuala Terengganu Polytechnic and Terengganu FAMA at the polytechnic here today.
Also present was the director of the polytechnic Radiah Che Su. Hasan said the frozen durian flesh could last longer than fresh whole fruit and could be made into cake, crepe, ice cream, pancake and so on.
Source: The Malay Mail Online