Eggplants have just entered the record books in a big way. A new heaviest aubergine, weighing 3.969 kg, about the same as a domestic cat, was officially crowned in Pennsylvania, US, on 19 August. Measuring 78.7 cm (2 ft 7 in) around its middle, the fruit earned recognition from the Guinness World Records (GWR) as the largest aubergine in the world. The giant aubergine was grown by Harrison City resident Erik Gunstrom, who only started cultivating eggplants three years ago.
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On 19 August, Gunstrom presented two eggplants for official weighing at the Giant Eagle Market District between Export and Murrysville, overseen by Jay Yohe, president of the Pennsylvania Giant Pumpkin Growers Association.
"It was shocking to witness the sheer size of the massive eggplants that Erik grew. I'm excited the world record was grown in my home state of Pennsylvania. Congratulations, Erik." Yohe said, as per GWR.
Both aubergines exceeded the previous world record, with the slightly smaller one still weighing 3.900 kg, roughly 12 times heavier than a typical supermarket eggplant.
"Out of every single person on the planet that has grown an eggplant, I have grown the biggest eggplant to ever exist on EARTH," Gunstrom said.
"Then to have grown two world records, harvest and weigh them at the same time... The feeling is something that every human needs to feel once in their lives," he added.
Gunstrom described the year as one of the most challenging years he had ever experienced in growing vegetables. The season, he said, began with persistently wet and cold temperatures that lasted until June. Suddenly, conditions shifted dramatically, with heat intensifying to create an extremely hot and wet summer.
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Large storms frequently swept through, dumping inches of rain at a time. Gunstrom admitted that he had serious doubts about whether his plants would survive the early-season cold and wet weather.
Gunstrom claimed the previous record from a 3.778-kg aubergine grown by Dave Bennett of Iowa, USA, in 2024. Before that, the record was held twice by British gardener Peter Glazebrook. The seeds for Gunstrom's record-breaking eggplants originally came from one of Glazebrook's former record-holders.The heaviest pumpkin record currently stands at 1,246.9 kg, grown by American horticulturalist Travis Gienger in October 2023.