Big disappointment for a couple in New Zealand: The dream of an entry in the Guinness Book of Records has fizzled out. This is due to the origin of a thick tuber.
Wellington – The dream of a Guinness record for the heaviest potato in the world has fizzled out for a couple from New Zealand.
Unfortunately, the 7.9-kilogram tuber that Colin and Donna Craig-Brown found while weeding in their garden in Hamilton on the North Island at the end of last year is not a potato at all, the two now reported in local media.
In an e-mail, the editors of the Guinness Book of Records informed them that it was actually a gourd from the Cucurbitaceae family. This would have shown DNA tests. According to the Guinness Book, the record holder remains a British potato that weighed 4.98 kilos.
“I’m disappointed,” Colin Craig-Brown admitted to New Zealand news portal Stuff. The back and forth about the supposed potato was “a real roller coaster ride”. The couple had christened the giant tuber “Dug”.
“It’s still the largest non-potato in the world,” the home gardener told the Wall Street Journal (Wednesday edition). “I call it ‘Dug the Dominator from Down Under,'” he added. However, his original idea of making vodka from the huge tuber has now come to an end. dpa
