KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii — Guinness World Records confirmed this week that a Hawaii woman found the world’s heaviest avocado.
Pamela Wang of Big Island found the whopping 5-pound, 3.6-ounce (2.4-kilogram) avocado as she was taking a walk earlier this month, West Hawaii Today reported .
The large avocado caught Wang’s eye because it was nearly the size of her head, she said in a previous interview.
After a rigorous verification process, Guinness World Records America Inc. emailed Wang to confirm that she had indeed found the heaviest avocado on record.
Wang’s avocado discovery made national and international headlines. After the story ran in West Hawaii Today Dec. 2, it was picked up by major outlets including the Washington Post and NBC’s “Today” show.
Friends and family worldwide also helped push the story internationally.
“I have so many people who called me up, contacted me, friends of mine and people who found me on Facebook,” Wang said. “The fun thing was reconnecting with all sorts of friends I haven’t talked to in a while who opened the paper and saw my face right there looking back at them.”
Wang spent hours answering phone calls and emails from reporters while promoting the avocado.
Others reached out to her on Facebook asking for a seed from the avocado and curious to know how the giant fruit tasted, because she did eat it.
“Do you know how hard it is to try and describe how an avocado tastes?” Wang said.
Seeing her story published by different publications and in different languages was also part of the fun, she said.
Back home, Wang has become a bit of a celebrity among farmers markets. Some customers recognize her as the “avocado lady”.
“I walk through and people point at me, holding up their hands as if they are holding an avocado,” Wang said. “I thought that was really cool, where the community comes together and is excited over something as small as the heaviest avocado.”
Other record-setting Big Island crops include the world’s heaviest soursop, mango and jackfruit.
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Information from: West Hawaii Today, http://www.westhawaiitoday.com
