The word berry is associated in the minds of ordinary people with fruits known to all, such as cranberries, blueberries, currants, strawberries or raspberries. However, few people know that from a scientific point of view, even zucchini is considered a berry, but raspberries and cherries, on the contrary, are not included in this list. Given such a variety of berry crops, it will be interesting to know what is the largest berry in the world.
The largest berry in the world is not the giant fruit of some exotic tree growing at the ends of the earth. All over the world the fruits of watermelon are recognized as the largest berries. The average weight of the berries of this plant is about 20 kilograms.
The history of the largest berry in the world
Today, watermelon is grown in more than 96 countries around the world; a huge number of varieties and varieties of this berry have been bred. Traditionally, watermelons are green with darker stripes, but few people know that they are yellow and even black. Ripe pulp is also not always pink or red; in many parts of the world, white, yellow and orange giants are a favorite delicacy.
There are many farmers in the world who specialize in growing large watermelons. However, the farmers themselves admit that the giants are in most cases inferior to their smaller counterparts in taste.
The homeland of the largest berry is southern Africa; to this day, in the Kalahari and Namib Desert, it can be found in the wild. Arabs and Jews started cultivating the wild watermelon as early as 1500 BC, at first this plant was grown only in Africa.
In Europe, they learned about the watermelon only in the XI century, and it got here thanks to the crusaders, who, during one of their campaigns, accidentally brought the then exotic fruit. Green berries began to be brought to Russia from abroad in the 17th century and this lasted for almost 50 years. Only in 1660, by order of the king, the first watermelons were planted in the south of the country.
Watermelon, hit in the Guinness Book of Records
The incredible watermelon was grown in the US state of Arkansas. The Bright family, on their own Hope Farm Store, have been breeding this crop since 1979 and have set records more than once. In 2005, they surpassed themselves by presenting to the world a 122 kg watermelon of the Karolina Cross variety.
The European "watermelon" record was set in Russia. In 2009, Igor Likhosenko won the Russian Size competition, presenting a watermelon of the “Ordinary Watermelon” variety weighing 61.4 kg.
In 2006, the achievement of the Bright family was entered in the Guinness Book of Records, thereby breaking the previous record of Azerbaijanis, who previously managed to grow a berry a little less - 119 kg. In 2008, another family of Sistrank farmers from Louisiana tried to break the Bright record, but they failed. They demonstrated a watermelon 95 cm long, but its weight did not exceed the record 122 kg, amounting to 114.5 kg.
