Overview
D170 Kepala Babi is one of the rarest and most memorably named durian varieties on the Malaysian national registry. "Kepala Babi" translates directly as "Pig Head" in Malay -- a striking designation that almost certainly refers to the shape of the fruit rather than any porcine flavor. The name alone makes D170 one of the most recognizable entries in the entire DOA catalog, even though the fruit itself is virtually unknown outside of Sarawak.
Registered in 1989 by the Jabatan Pertanian (Department of Agriculture), D170 is one of only approximately four Sarawak-origin varieties in the Malaysian national durian registry, alongside D171, DQ1, and DQ2. This makes it a genuinely unusual entry. The overwhelming majority of Malaysia's registered durian clones originate from Peninsular Malaysia -- Pahang, Penang, Johor, Kelantan, and Perak dominate the list. Sarawak, separated from the Peninsula by the South China Sea and home to a fundamentally different durian culture, is represented by only a thin handful of varieties in the formal DOA system.
The official DOA description is brief to the point of austerity: "Buah berbentuk eliptik panjang" -- the fruit is elongated elliptic in shape. No information on flesh color, taste, texture, aroma, seed size, or weight has been officially recorded. D170 exists in the registry as little more than a name, a shape, and a state of origin.
Origin & History
D170 was registered on the Malaysian national durian registry in 1989. The state of origin is listed as Sarawak, and the reporter is Jabatan Pertanian -- the Department of Agriculture itself, rather than an individual grower or farmer. This institutional registration pattern, shared with varieties like D172 Durian Botak from Johor, suggests that agricultural officers identified the tree during fieldwork or survey activities in Sarawak rather than a private individual bringing the fruit forward.
The name "Kepala Babi" -- Pig Head -- is a vernacular designation that almost certainly describes the fruit's physical appearance. In Malaysian durian naming tradition, animal-derived names are not uncommon. D197 Musang King is named after the civet cat (musang), and numerous other varieties carry animal references. The "pig head" label likely describes a perceived resemblance between the elongated, somewhat bulbous shape of the fruit and the profile of a pig's head. Local naming conventions in Sarawak, as in Peninsular Malaysia, tend toward the practical and descriptive rather than the flattering.
Sarawak occupies a distinctive position in Malaysia's durian landscape. While Peninsular Malaysia's durian culture revolves almost exclusively around Durio zibethinus -- the common commercial durian species -- Sarawak and the broader island of Borneo are home to a far more diverse array of Durio species. At least sixteen Durio species are found in Sarawak, roughly half of which are edible. Among the most notable are Durio kutejensis (known locally as durian pulu or lai), which produces large fruit with thick, sweet, creamy yellow flesh, and Durio graveolens (known as durian merah, durian isu, or durian anggang depending on the ethnic community), prized for its vivid red or orange flesh. These wild and semi-cultivated species are collected from the forest and sold at local morning markets and tamu (open-air markets) during fruiting season. They are integral to the food cultures of the Iban, Bidayuh, Kenyah, and other indigenous communities of Sarawak.
D170 Kepala Babi, however, belongs to the standard Durio zibethinus species -- the same species as Musang King, D24, and all other varieties in the Malaysian DOA registry. Its registration represents an attempt to bring Sarawak's D. zibethinus cultivars into the formal national classification system, a process that has been far more thorough for Peninsular varieties than for those from East Malaysia. The minimal documentation that accompanies D170's registration -- a single line describing fruit shape -- underscores just how preliminary the cataloging of Sarawak's durian diversity has been within the national framework.
The circumstances of the original tree's discovery -- where exactly in Sarawak it grew, who cultivated it, and what local community may have been eating its fruit long before any DOA officer arrived -- are not documented in available sources. Like many institutionally registered varieties, D170 lacks the personal origin story that gives varieties like Musang King or Tekka their narrative richness.
Characteristics
Shape. The sole characteristic recorded by the DOA is the fruit's elongated elliptic shape -- "buah berbentuk eliptik panjang." This describes a fruit that is longer than it is wide, with a smooth oval profile rather than the rounder, more squat silhouette of varieties like D24. The elongated form, combined with the "Kepala Babi" name, suggests a fruit with a distinctive, possibly asymmetric profile that local observers found reminiscent of a pig's head.
Flesh, taste, and aroma. No official information is available. The DOA description does not mention flesh color, sweetness, bitterness, creaminess, texture, or aroma. Without tasting data, D170 cannot be placed within the spectrum of Malaysian durian flavor profiles.
Size and weight. Not recorded.
Husk and thorns. Not described in available sources.
What can be stated with confidence is limited to: elongated elliptic shape, Sarawak origin, 1989 registration, institutional reporter. Everything else about D170's sensory qualities remains undocumented in the public record.
Availability
D170 Kepala Babi is, for all practical purposes, unavailable to the general durian-buying public. It has no DOA planting recommendation for any district, it is not commercially cultivated at any known scale, and it does not appear in the supply chains that deliver durian to markets in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, or Johor Bahru.
Sarawak's durian market operates differently from Peninsular Malaysia's. Rather than large-scale monoculture orchards of named clones, Sarawak's durian supply comes substantially from wild and semi-cultivated trees, smallholder farms, and kampung orchards where multiple species and varieties grow side by side. Named D. zibethinus clones from the DOA registry are far less prominent in Sarawak's local durian trade than they are on the Peninsula.
For durian enthusiasts interested in D170, the only realistic approach would be to seek it out within Sarawak during durian season. Even there, finding this specific registered clone would require local knowledge, connections, and considerable luck. The variety's registration code -- D170 -- is unlikely to be recognized by most durian sellers in Sarawak's markets, where fruit is more commonly identified by local names or simply sold as generic durian.
D170 Kepala Babi remains, for now, a registry entry rather than a commercially available product -- a placeholder that documents the existence of a Sarawak durian cultivar with an unforgettable name and an elongated shape, but little else that has been formally recorded about it.