
ASTOUNDING AVOCADO. This December 13, 2018 photo provided by
Juliane Pokini shows Lo’ihi Pokini posing for a photo with the
Guinness World Record Heaviest Avocado at Kula Country Farms in
Kula, Hawai‘i. The Pokini family from the island of Maui
received the Guinness certificate for the avocado, which weighed
5.6 pounds, according to The Maui News. (Juliane Pokini
via AP)
From The Asian Reporter, V29, #20 (October 21, 2019),
page 7.
Big avocado earns Hawai‘i family Guinness
World Records honor
WAILUKU, Hawaii (AP) — A Hawai‘i family has won a place with
the Guinness World Records for the world’s heaviest avocado.
The Pokini family from the island of Maui received the
Guinness certificate for the avocado weighing 5.6 pounds,
according to The Maui News.
An average avocado weighs about 6 ounces, according to
Guinness officials.
The Pokini family’s avocado tree is more than 10 years old
and 20 feet tall. Mark Pokini planted it when his son was born,
using a seed from his brother-in-law’s tree on the island of
Oahu, he said.
Mark and Juliane Pokini and their son, Lo’ihi, applied in
December for the Guinness recognition involving a tough
verification process by the company known as the chronicler of
the world’s record achievements.
The family in 2018 entered another avocado, but it did not
meet all the elements of the Guinness verification process
requiring input from a certified horticulturalist, two forms
completed by witnesses, a state-certified scale, photographs,
video, and other documentation.
For the second attempt, the family gathered a team and the
right tools ahead of time as they watched the growth of what
became the record fruit.
They did not water or fertilize the tree, deciding to "kind
of just leave it alone," Juliane Pokini said.
Winning was emotional, she said.
"We were excited," Juliane Pokini said. "But at the same
time, we were like, finally. It was such a long wait."
The prize avocado was put to good use when the family "made a
whole bunch of guacamole" to share with relatives and friends,
she said. |