15 March 2024 , 20:20
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Farmers in Australia were left "stoked" when they noticed that among the blueberries they picked, there was one as big as a golf ball and weighing significantly more than average.
The giant blueberry, which is 39.31mm wide and weighs 20.4 grams - much more than the average of between 1 gram and 3.5 grams - was picked at a farm in Corindi, New South Wales, in November last year. On Tuesday, Guinness World Records publicly declared it the biggest blueberry in the world - a title previously held by a 16.2 grams berry with a diameter of 36.33mm grown in Western Australia.
Brad Hocking said his team was overjoyed to have the record officially verified after waiting for 12 weeks - and added the giant berry was due to "a combination of good breeding and good growing". The massive blueberry was kept in an industrial freezer since being picked to preserve it while the official verification process was carried out.
Brad Hocking said the team was 'stoked' when they saw the huge blueberry (Costa Group)Mr Hocking said everyone on his team was "stoked" when they understood just how big the berry was. He told the BBC: "It wasn't really until we put them on the scale that we realised what we found. The record-breaking fruit was obviously particularly large, but we would have picked 20 or more fruit on that morning that would have broken the previous world record."
The blueberry belongs to the new Eterna variety, which has been developed by the company in response to consumer demand for larger berry sizes across Australia, according to ABC News. Mr Hocking said his team had been developing the variety for two years but the massive fruit was discovered thanks to favourable weather conditions last spring.
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When asked about the fate of the berry, Mr Hocking said the team wouldn't want to eat it but one of their ideas is to do a resin cast and mount it on the wall. But the farmer promised that despite the huge difference in size, Eterna berries are just as delicious as the mainstream ones.
The huge berry weighs 20.4grams (Costa Group)He said: "It's a different experience, eating a berry that is that large. We see it more as people who are consuming them as snacks, more than maybe the traditional uses in breakfasts and baking. But certainly, the flavour and the firmness is there - it's got a really nice crunch to it and a high level of blueberry aromatics."
Costa blueberries are bread using traditional techniques including manually hand pollinating and throwing out seeds. In addition to blueberries, the farm also grows other fruits and vegetables including grapes, avocados, tomatoes and mushrooms.
"While our primary production goal is consistently high fruit quality, we do get great size in all our crops," Mr Hocking revealed. "I'm really proud to be able to celebrate with the team of passionate people we have here at the farm and recognise all the hard work that goes into producing these crops."