D110 Seberang Manong 5
Overview
D110 Seberang Manong 5 is a durian variety registered in 1970 from Perak, notable for one extraordinary detail: its flesh is described as red. In cultivated durian (Durio zibethinus), red flesh is exceptionally rare. The vast majority of registered Malaysian clones produce flesh in shades of yellow, cream, or white. A handful display orange or pinkish tones. Outright red is almost unheard of.
The Department of Agriculture (DOA) description is minimal -- just two traits are recorded: long thorns and red flesh. No information on taste, texture, aroma, size, or shape was documented, making D110 one of the most sparsely described yet most intriguing entries in the national durian registry.
D110 was registered by Yeop Abd. Rahman Bin Anjang Osman from the Seberang Manong area in Perak. The same reporter also registered D109 Seberang Manong 4 in the same year. Where D109 has pinkish-yellow flesh with a rich, sweet, coarse-textured profile, D110 pushes the color spectrum further into deep red. Together, these registrations suggest a pocket of unusual genetic diversity around Seberang Manong -- trees producing flesh colors well outside the normal range for the species.
D110 should not be confused with wild species such as Durio graveolens (the red-fleshed durian of Borneo), which routinely produces red and orange flesh. D110 is a registered clone of Durio zibethinus -- the common durian -- making its red coloration far more unusual and genetically noteworthy.
Origin & History
Seberang Manong is a locale in the Kuala Kangsar district of Perak, in northern Peninsular Malaysia. Kuala Kangsar is the royal town of Perak, situated along the Perak River in a region with a long agricultural history including rubber, rice, and fruit cultivation. The surrounding area is hilly and forested, with established kampung orchards where old durian trees -- many unnamed and unregistered -- have grown for generations.
D110 was registered in 1970, making it one of the earliest entries in the DOA registry. The 1960s and 1970s were when the DOA was systematically documenting local durian varieties across the peninsula, and many registrations from that era represent trees that had been growing for decades prior.
The reporter registered at least two varieties from Seberang Manong: D109 (Seberang Manong 4) and D110 (Seberang Manong 5). The numbering suggests at least three other varieties from the same locale were registered before these (Seberang Manong 1 through 3), indicating the area was recognized as having meaningful durian diversity. The "Yeop" in the reporter's name is a Malay honorific title found in Perak, traditionally associated with families of standing in the state's feudal hierarchy.
Beyond these basic facts, almost nothing is publicly documented about D110's history. No accounts of commercial cultivation, flavor reviews, or photographic documentation appear in available sources. The variety exists primarily as a line item in the DOA registry -- a tantalizing record of a red-fleshed durian tree that once grew in the orchards of Perak.
Characteristics
The DOA description of D110 records only two physical traits:
Long thorns (duri panjang). The fruit has notably long thorns. In durian morphology, thorn length and shape are used as identifying features, and long thorns are associated with certain older kampung varieties. No further detail about thorn density, curvature, or husk color is provided.
Red flesh (isi berwarna merah). This is the defining characteristic. The DOA uses "merah," which in Malay unambiguously means red -- not pink (merah jambu), not reddish-orange (jingga), but red. For context, D109 from the same locale is described as having "kuning merah jambu" (yellow pink) flesh, and the DOA used that more nuanced term where appropriate. The choice of plain "merah" for D110 suggests a genuinely red coloration.
Red pigmentation in Durio zibethinus flesh is thought to be related to carotenoid or anthocyanin compounds, though the specific biochemistry of D110 has not been studied. In other varieties, deeper flesh colors are sometimes associated with stronger or more complex flavors, though this correlation is not universal.
No information is available on D110's taste, texture, aroma, seed size, fruit size, or shape. The fruit's eating quality remains undocumented.
Availability
D110 Seberang Manong 5 is effectively unavailable in the contemporary durian market. It does not appear in commercial nursery listings, durian enthusiast forums, or retail durian stall inventories. No commercial orchards are known to cultivate it.
Whether the original tree or its descendants still exist in the Seberang Manong area is unknown. Many early-registered durian clones from the 1960s and 1970s have been lost as old kampung orchards were cleared for development or replanted with commercially dominant varieties. D110 may survive in some form in the orchards around Kuala Kangsar, but there is no public documentation confirming this.
For durian researchers and enthusiasts interested in genetic diversity, D110 represents exactly the kind of variety worth seeking out. A Durio zibethinus tree that produces genuinely red flesh would be of considerable scientific interest -- both for understanding the genetic basis of flesh color in durian and for potential breeding applications. If living specimens of D110 still exist, they would represent a rare and valuable piece of Malaysia's durian heritage.