What each one actually is
D13 and D24 turn up on the same stall boards, at similar mid-range prices, and both get recommended to people who find Musang King too much. That is roughly where the resemblance ends.
D24, also called Sultan, is one of the oldest durians on Malaysia’s clone register. It was registered on 30 November 1937, from a tree in Bukit Merah, Perak. A copy of the clone register calls it the most popular clone, and it was the benchmark Malaysian durian before Musang King took that position.
D13 is much newer, and the name is misleading. It is not a Department of Agriculture clone number. It is a place name: Batu 13 in Pagoh, Johor. The variety spent years as a kampung breed with no official status. Durianed reports that it was registered in 2022 as D226, under the name Hock 13. We have not found the register entry itself, so treat the year and number as Durianed’s report. On that report, a board that says “D13” is naming D226.
Flavour and texture
SAYS gives D13’s flavour as “mild, sweet with a hint of floral vanilla notes” and its texture as creamy, soft and sticky. Durianed says D13 is “not a cultivar known for bitterness”, though it adds that it can sometimes carry the bitterness of premium cultivars.
The Department of Agriculture describes D24 flesh as sweet, rich, firm and fine-textured, with a slight bitterness. SAYS gives D24 as “sweet and mildly bitter”.
So on the sources, D24 is the one known for some bitterness, and D13 is the one described as mild, with bitterness only sometimes. Neither is described as strongly bitter, and we cannot put a number on the gap between them.
On smell, both are described as gentler than the strongest durians. FairPrice calls D13 “fragrant” and Durianed says it is “much less pungent than the most powerful of durians”. RinggitPlus says D24’s “aroma is milder”. No source we have found compares the two directly.
Flesh colour and seed size
The two are easy to tell apart before you even taste them.
D13’s flesh runs bright to deep orange, sometimes with a reddish cast. D24’s is pale yellow, sometimes a warmer yellow, nowhere near as saturated as D13’s.
Seed size works against D13 on value. Its seeds are large, so a given weight of whole fruit gives you less edible flesh than the price per kilo implies. Durianed says that if the seeds are gigantic, a 1kg D13 could potentially give just 150g to 250g of edible flesh. That is a worst case, not a measured average, and we have not found a measured flesh figure for D13. For D24 we have not found a source on seed size, but the Department of Agriculture gives its flesh as 26 per cent of the fruit. The two figures come from different kinds of source, so do not read them as a like-for-like comparison. Seed size varies tree to tree, so treat it as a tendency rather than a guarantee.
The Red Prawn problem
This is the part worth knowing before you pay a premium for either.
D13 is often sold in Singapore under the name “Red Prawn” (Specialty Produce, Durianed). It is not Red Prawn. The real thing is D175, and it comes from Penang, not Johor. Some sellers hedge by calling theirs “Singapore Red Prawn,” which is a tell rather than a reassurance: it means the seller already knows the two are not the same fruit.
We have not found D24 being sold under another variety’s name. Its main confusion is XO, which is not a registered clone but is sold as a variation of D24 with an alcoholic taste.
None of this makes D13 a lesser durian. It is a legitimate, enjoyable, affordable variety on its own terms. The problem is only when it is sold as something else, at that something else’s price. Before paying Red Prawn money, check three things:
- Seeds. D175’s are small to medium. D13’s are large. Big seeds mean it is very unlikely to be D175.
- Base. D175 carries thorns right down to the bottom of the fruit. D13 has a bald patch at the base with no star seam.
- Husk. D175 is a dull grey-brown. D13 is a fresh green.
If the seeds are big, the base is bald and the husk is a fresh green, you are eating D13. That is fine, as long as the price says D13.
Value for money
We have not found a source that sets D13 and D24 prices side by side, so this section is about what you are paying for rather than which is cheaper.
D24 is a long-registered clone sold under its own name, so the price on the board is a price for D24.
D13, correctly labelled, is priced lower: Info Pertanian says its much larger seeds are offset by a lower price. The trouble is that “correctly labelled” clause. Pay Red Prawn money for D13 and you are paying for a name it does not hold, on top of a flesh-to-seed ratio that already works against it.
So: with D24, check the price against other D24. With D13, the value depends on the seller being straight about what it is.
D13 vs D24 at a glance
| D13 (D226, Hock 13) | D24 (Sultan) | |
|---|---|---|
| Origin | Batu 13, Pagoh, Johor | Bukit Merah, Perak |
| Registered | 2022, as D226 (Durianed’s report) | 1937 (Department of Agriculture) |
| Flesh colour | Bright to deep orange, sometimes reddish | Pale yellow |
| Flavour | Mild, sweet, floral vanilla (SAYS) | Sweet, rich, slightly bitter (Department of Agriculture) |
| Seed size | Large (FairPrice, SAYS, Durianed) | Not described in our sources |
| Flesh yield | No measured figure in our sources | 26% of the fruit (Department of Agriculture) |
| Aroma | Fragrant, much less pungent than the strongest (FairPrice, Durianed) | Milder, suits a first-timer (RinggitPlus) |
| Often confused with | Red Prawn (D175) | XO (generally described as a more fermented D24) |
Who should buy which
Buy D13 if you or the people you are serving want a mild, sweet durian, and you are happy with soft, sticky flesh with floral vanilla notes. Check the base and the seeds before you pay a Red Prawn price for it. A bald base with no star seam and large seeds means you are eating D13, and that is fine as long as the price matches.
Buy D24 if you want a durian described as sweet, rich and slightly bitter, and you would rather pay for an established clone, registered in 1937, than a newer, more contested name.
For a mixed group, the two work well side by side. Serve D13 first, so its mild flavour is not flattened by tasting after D24, then move to D24.