Lovers of the world's smelliest fruit purchased 80,000 "vomit smelling" durian in 60 seconds after a promotion went online.

Chinese consumers bought 200,000kg (440,925lb) of the thorny custard-like fruit in just one minute after e-commerce giant Alibaba put them up for sale on Thursday.

Durian are regarded by many in southeast Asia as the "king of fruits", with prices for one three-kilo fruit often reaching nearly £40.

However, they have a pungent odour, often compared to rotten onions or vomit, which can linger for days.

They are banned in most shopping malls, hotels and on public transport across southeast Asia, with supermarkets enveloped in the smell during durian season.


Image: A minute after the promotional durian were put online, Chinese consumers had bought 80,000. Pic: Tmall

Thailand is the biggest grower of durian, with the latest sale of the Monthong variety part of a deal by the Chinese and Thai governments to help Thailand's digital economy.

With prices as low as 71p a kilo, durian lovers and wholesalers were keen to snap up the promotion on Alibaba's Tmall site, which allows businesses to sell to Chinese consumers.

As part of the Thai digital drive the China-based company agreed a three billion yuan (£338.7m) three-year deal on durian sales with the Bangkok government, Alibaba said.

Image: No Durian

Jack Ma, co-founder of Alibaba, said: "China is on its way to becoming the world's largest consumer, driven by rising income and a growing middle class of 300 million.

"There is no better time than now for trade-oriented countries to seize this opportunity to export to China as the country continues to open its doors wider for global trade."

Alibaba only started doing business in Thailand in 2016 when it partnered with the Thai government to strengthen e-commerce abilities for small and medium-sized businesses.

Image: F1 stars Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen did not look pleased with a durian in Singapore

Alibaba has also launched the first ever online Thai rice store on Tmall as part of the partnership.

Durian are available in Chinese supermarkets in the UK.

However it was not until 2014 that a Malaysian variety - musang king durian - which is meant to be the most "fragrant" was first imported to the UK.