Selecting the right fruit was very important when retailers sold the fruit "as is" without dissection. Today it is common for resellers to dissect the fruit and sell the edible parts inside. As such the visibility of the edible part has made selection techniques lessen in importance.

Selection of durians in the farm is easy. Fruit from the same tree will generally have the same properties. Generally fruit in the farm is allowed to ripen and fall from the tree so ripeness of the fruit should not be a matter of concern.

Selection of fruit outside of a farm setting is slightly more tricky. The following are some of the basic selection methods used:

1) Generally the freshness of a fruit can be ascertained from the stalk. Once a fruit has been removed from the tree the stalk starts to dry off. Unscrupulous merchants may seek to wrap or paint the stalk to prevent easy detection. Less savvy merchants may even remove the stalks.

2) Most punters enjoy the fruit where the pulp is dry and mature. An easy way to tell if the pulp is dry without opening the fruit is to shake the fruit and feel for a little bit of rattling. Moist pulp sticks to the inside of the fruit. Dry pulp tends to be seperated from the inside walls of the fruit. Care must be taken that one is not injured by the thorns of the fruit in this operation.

3) Durian may be attacked by pests which lay worms in the fruit. It is important in purchasing whole fruit to avoid buying fruit which has any holes in it since these often indicate the entry of worms into the fruit.

The fruit can be opened by careful study and with commonly available tools. Inspection of the outside of the fruit will reveal "lines" along the surface where the thorns grow in straight rows as opposed to the seemingly random distribution on the rest of the surface. In general it is possible to find up to 5 lines along the surface.

If the stalk is thought to be the upper surface of the durian then turn it upside down and the lines should converge at a point somewhere near the bottom of the fruit. Gently poke a sharp object into this point. Generally objects such as awls, the corner of a meat cleaver or even a screwdriver serve well. Then slide the sharp object along the "line" which was previously identified. It may be a good idea to have a glove or a thick rag to secure the durian with the other hand while attempting this task. A moving durian may seem like an opportunity for comedy but being poked is a real risk.

Once the fruit has been seperated into two parts then the flesh inside may be consumed. The parts can be segmented further by using the base of the palms to push on the rim on opposite sides. It may help to make a small tear along the central axis before this is attempted.