DNA test required for world’s biggest potato

A couple who dug up a potato in their vegetable patch that weighed more than twice as much as the average newborn baby were sure it was a shoo-in to break the world record.

A couple who dug up a potato in their vegetable patch that weighed more than twice as much as the average newborn baby were sure it was a shoo-in to break the world record.

However, first a chunk of the massive vegetable, which was grown in New Zealand, has to be sent for DNA testing in Scotland, to prove it really is a potato.

Colin and Donna Craig-Brown, who discovered the 7.8kg potato in their vegetable garden in August, said a lack of trust in their discovery, which they have nicknamed Doug, had left them feeling dejected.

“Do they think I genetically modified it?” Mr Craig-Brown said It’s been a roller-coaster of emotion. While it’s extremely deflating, I want to prove them wrong.”

Researchers at Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture, which provides agricultural advice to the Scottish government, can determine a tuber’s molecular fingerprint. This genotyping would confirm whether Doug is a potato, and possibly its variety.

The Craig-Browns came across their “happy little mistake of nature” while gardening, when a hoe struck something large. “It’s a hideous-looking creature,” Mr Craig-Brown told New Zealand news website Stuff.

Donna Craig-Brown with Doug the giant potato. Picture: Colin Craig-Brown

“It’s the sort of thing that only a mother could love.”

The pair believe the potato is self-sown and may have been growing for a couple of years.

The couple have been showing it off to neighbours and built a small cart to tow it around their farm near Hamilton.

Mr Craig-Brown is now concerned about the potato’s longevity: it has started to lose weight as it dries out and builds mould, and he has taken to storing it in the freezer.

The Times