A New Zealand-based couple who believed they had found the world’s largest potato have had their chances of breaking a world record mashed after a DNA test revealed it is, in fact, a tuber.
Colin and Donna Craig-Brown dug up the 7.8kg tuber on their small farm near Hamilton in August 2021.
In an appearance on This Morning in January, Colin said he initially thought the mysterious structure was a white sweet potato but decided it was too big once he saw its full size.
Describing how he dug up the tuber with a garden fork, Colin said: “Like an angry Viking, I thrust it into the ground and caught me a giant potato.”
His suspicions that it was a giant potato were seemingly confirmed after he tasted the raw tuber, and the couple proceeded to submit photographs and paperwork to Guinness World Records.
However, an email from the record keeper last week revealed that the structure was not a potato.
“Sadly, the specimen is not a potato and is in fact the tuber of a type of gourd,” the email said.
“For this reason, we do unfortunately have to disqualify the application.”
Expressing his disappointment at the news, Colin said: “What can you say? We can’t say we don’t believe you, because we gave them the DNA stuff.”
The current record for the world’s heaviest potato is held by Nottinghamshire vegetable grower, Peter Glazebrook for a spud weighing 4.98 kg.
Colin he still keeps the tuber, which he has named Dug, in his freezer.
“I say ‘gidday’ to him every time I pull out some sausages. He’s a cool character,” he said.
“Dug is the destroyer from Down Under. He is the world’s biggest not-a-potato.”
“Whenever the grandchildren come round, they say, ‘Can we see Dug?’”
While Dug was grown by accident, Colin said the tuber has inspired him to try and beat the current record for the world’s heaviest potato, adding that he plans to try and grow a record-breaking spud next season.
