Finding a good avocado is tricky: they're all either too mushy or not nearly ripe enough. Rarely our grocery shopping delivers up the perfect specimen. An even rarer find? One that breaks a world record. In Hawaii, one woman found what might be the perfect record-setting avocado—for weight, not ripeness—which she said was as big as her head.
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Pamela Wang found what may be an avocado toast lover's dream while walking in Kealakekua, located on the western coast of the island of Hawaii, reported West Hawaii Today. "I see avocados every day and I pick up avocados every day, but this one … it was hard to miss," she said. "It was as big as my head."
The fruit wasn't the typical Haas seen in your local supermarket, but belongs to a type known as Daily 11, known for its heft. This variety is three times bigger than the typical avocado and grows in the fall and winter, according to ScienceAlert. They are not commonly found in markets. But despite their typical large size, Wang's discovery still stands out, weighing in at five pounds and nearly four ounces, according to West Hawaii Today.
Wang took her avocado to the Pure Kona Green Market located in south Kona so others in the community could marvel at its green goodness, the newspaper reports. Her friends also were intrigued by the discovery and began researching the status of large avocados online, leading them to believe this Daily 11 might be the world's largest.
According to an investigation by West Hawaii Today, Wang's fruit is not the world's largest avocado—but it might be the heaviest. Elizabeth Montoya, a representative at the Guinness World Records America, told the paper that they do not currently have a category for largest avocado, but Wang's could compete for the world's heaviest. The current hefty avocado champion is Gabriel Ramirez Nahim of Venezuela, an avocado cultivator, whose prized fruit weighed in at four pounds and 13.2 ounces in 2009.
Wang could possibly dethrone Nahim if her fruit proves to meet Guinness standards, and she hopes it will. But the competition didn't detract from enjoying her discovery. After completing the Guinness application by snapping photos and having the avocado weighed in the presence of an expert, Wang took the fruit to Caffe Florian, also located in Kealakekua, where she shared it with friends. The remains were left for other patrons to enjoy, too.
"It tasted excellent," Wang told West Hawaii Today. "The tree is very good. We had 10 people there and didn't even use up half of one half of the avocado."
According to wholesale distributor, Specialty Produce, Daily 11 avocados hail from California and are grown as a novelty item.
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Melissa is a science writer covering health for Newsweek and has contributed to Inc., Dr. Oz The Good Life, Men's Fitness, Marie Claire and others. She earned ... Read more
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