After a year-long jam, a mammoth Israeli strawberry is entering the record books.
Weighing a whopping 289 grams (10.19 ounces, more than half a pound), the titanic berry this week was declared the world’s largest by Guinness World Records.
The strawberry was picked on Chahi Ariel’s family farm near the city of Netanya in central Israel in February 2021. But only this week, Guinness confirmed it as the heaviest on record.
“We waited for a year for the results,” Ariel said. “We kept it in the freezer for a year. It’s no longer as pretty as it was.”
The supersized strawberry is a local variety called Ilan that tends to grow to a hefty size. Ariel said the record-setting specimen has shrunk to about half the size it was a year before.
The previous record-holder for the heaviest strawberry was a Japanese fruit grown in 2015 in Fukuoka that tipped the scales at 250 grams (8.8 ounces).
The wait turned out to be fruitful. Ariel said he jumped up and down in his car, laughing and singing when he got the news. “We are very happy to be in the Guinness World Records,” he said.
(AP)
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9 Responses
Promoting shmittah produce?
i think bennet should go in the guiness world records for the smallest kippa on a vegatable!
i love strawberries but i wonder if these strawberries taste better than they look.
It’s not a shemittah strawberry as it was harvested last year. It sat in a freezer until now because that’s how long it took to verify its winning status. Let’s hope the owner separated truma and maaser. If he is keeping shemittah this year, maybe it’s part of the special sixth year bracha.
Coffee addict- FYI, they call it יבול ששית over here. I’ll enjoy it with Chahi Ariel- provided trumos and ma’asros were taken.
coffee addict – read the article – it’s from a year ago!
Varkert – it shows the brocho in Eretz Yisroel in the 6th year!!!
@Coffee Addict, no it’s not a shmittah product.
It grew in Feb 2021, it took till now to get approval from the Guinness World Records.
It looks kind of “yucky” now only because in the interim they kept it in the freezer.
Although keeping it in the freezer caused it to shrink substantially from its original glorious size.
Coffee Addict- the strawberry was picked a year ago, before the Shmitta year began, He kept it in the freezer all year. Its actually 6th year produce and a mitzvah to eat.
It apparently also broke all records for the most aphids and other little bugs found by a mashgiach on a single strawberry.