A South African-owned blueberry company with farms in Australia has claimed the title of the world's heaviest blueberry. But although the record might be official, there might be bigger berries out there.
In October, OZblu, which has farms across the globe, weighed a blueberry at 16.20 grams with a diameter of 36.3mm. Guinness World Records confirmed the berry as the new record holder, noting it was OZblu that broke its own record (12.39g) from two years ago.
However, when the story of the first record was posted on Good Fruit & Vegetables' Facebook page in August 2018, Mountain Blue blueberry grower, Josh McGuiness replied, posting photographs of blueberries weighing 14.1g, 16g and finally a whopper 20g blueberry. He also posted a video of the fruit being placed on a set of digital scans, weighing it at 20g.
OZblu's world record blueberry was grown by Dave and Leasa Mazzardis, who founded and own the Natures Select breeding program in in Wilbinga, Western Australia.
"While larger blueberries are a result of this natural selection process, and although some markets do prefer 'jumbo' size berries, our focus amongst other agronomical traits remains delivering a consistent and quality eating experience to the consumer," Mazzardis said.
Founder of United Exports, Roger Horak, said it was important to remember that size wasn't all that matters. "We are intent on growing the best blueberries on the market and this means that taste, crunch and flavour are our priorities," Horak said. "Dave and Leasa just happen to grow record sized fruit too. The innovation that Dave and Leasa have delivered to the blueberry category, is truly nothing short of ground breaking for this incredible super fruit, and will go down in history."
Source: queenslandcountrylife.com.au