Can You Get Drunk Off Overripe Fruit?

AI Fruit Identifier

Upload a clear photo of any fruit and our AI identifies the species, variety, nutrition, ripeness, and more — instantly and free.

The short version is that ripe durian can hold a small amount of natural alcohol, and it's tiny compared with a real drink. There's also a second thing about durian and alcohol that I didn't know until I looked into it, and I'll get to that further down.

What happened after I ate the durian

I had two pieces of fresh durian and then a durian dessert on top. It was really good durian, the kind where you keep going back for one more bit. Not long after I finished, I started to feel it in my head. I was dizzy, my face went hot, and my mouth tasted like alcohol, which was the strangest part. It wasn't a horrible feeling, just weird for something I'd eaten with no drink anywhere near it.

It faded by itself after an hour or two, so I didn't have to do anything about it. But I wanted to know why it happened, and whether it's a normal thing. So I went looking.

Is there really alcohol in ripe fruit?

A little, yes. As fruit ripens, the sugar in it can ferment and turn into ethanol, which is the same alcohol you find in beer and wine. Durian is very sweet and ripens fast, so it's one of the fruits where this shows up. A 2023 study on ripe durian flesh found that the husk limits how much oxygen gets in, so parts of the flesh switch to a low-oxygen way of breathing and make ethanol while they do it.

That fits the alcohol taste I had in my mouth, although I can't prove it's what happened to me. A food technology researcher at Hanoi University of Science and Technology told VnExpress that the amount of alcohol in fruit is extremely small and can't be compared with drinking alcohol. He said you can even show a trace on a breath test straight after eating durian, and that rinsing your mouth and waiting 15 to 30 minutes clears it. So the alcohol is real, but it's small. A trace like that doesn't really explain the dizziness, and durian is also heavy and very sugary. I ate a fair bit in one go, so I honestly can't say which part did it.

This all happens in the fruit before you eat it. Fruit doesn't turn into alcohol in your stomach, which is a myth I covered in my post on eating fruit on an empty stomach.

Can you drink alcohol after eating ripe fruit?

This was the part that surprised me. In Southeast Asia there's an old warning not to eat durian while drinking. It sounded like a folk story to me, but there's a lab study behind it. Researchers in Japan tested durian extract on an enzyme called aldehyde dehydrogenase, which the body uses to break down acetaldehyde, the toxic leftover from alcohol. In the study the extract slowed the enzyme by up to 70 percent, and the sulfur compounds in durian looked like the cause.

They used a yeast version of the enzyme in a lab, not people, so I wouldn't treat it as proof of what happens in a body. It does match the warning, though. If you're planning to drink, that's probably a day to skip the durian.

Can apples make you drunk?

Apples are the fruit I eat most, so this one bugs me. Sometimes when I eat too many, my face goes red and hot and I feel a bit dizzy, and I've wondered if apples can get a person drunk. Ripe apples can carry a trace of alcohol like other fruit does, but I couldn't find anything showing it's enough to make anyone drunk.

What I did find is that apples bother some people in other ways. Some people react to an apple protein that looks like a pollen protein, and that usually shows up as an itchy or tingly mouth, as Medical News Today explains. Apples are also high in fructose, and some people don't absorb it well, which mostly causes bloating and stomach trouble. A hot red face doesn't match either of those very neatly, so I can't tell you what's behind mine. If it happens to you often, a doctor or an allergy specialist will be more use than I am.

The kiwi that smelled like wine

A kiwi that smells fermented, sharp and a bit boozy, is one I won't eat. It's gone past ripe. Overripe fruit spoils quickly, and kiwis get there fast if you leave a bag of them on the bench. That's why I don't stock up on them unless there are plenty of people at home to eat them. I just buy a few from the fruit shop at a time.

If you want help choosing, my guide on how to pick ripe fruit covers the smell and squeeze tests. There's also a post on how to stop wasting food for using fruit up before it turns.

Is alcohol in fruit a problem for kids?

Kids shouldn't drink alcohol. Australia's national guidelines say people under 18 should not drink alcohol because their brains are still developing. That's about drinks, though. Food is a bit different, because small amounts of alcohol turn up in a lot of everyday things.

A German study tested foods from the shops and found orange, apple and grape juice with up to 0.77 grams of ethanol per litre. Some packaged bakery items, like burger rolls and sweet milk rolls, had more than 1.2 grams per 100 grams. For comparison, one standard drink is about 10 grams of alcohol. So it isn't nothing, but a normal serve of any of these is small.

If you're feeding kids, I'd think of it in a few groups. Fruit that has sat around too long, fermented foods like yoghurt, vinegar and soy sauce, and packaged baked goods all carry small traces, and in normal amounts I wouldn't worry about them. Food with alcohol added on purpose is a different case. Dumplings made with a lot of rice wine, or chocolates with liqueur inside, are ones I'd leave for the adults.

Should you worry after eating ripe fruit?

For me it passed in an hour or two, and from what I read the alcohol in ripe fruit is too small to be dangerous. If a reaction lasts longer than that, or you get swelling, trouble breathing or you feel properly unwell, don't wait it out. Get it checked.

If you like knowing what you're buying, the PickFresh fruit identifier is free to use on the blog, and the app can score freshness from a photo.

Frequently Asked Questions