Rise of the aubergines: basketball-sized eggplant from Pennsylvania steals world record
A new heaviest aubergine, weighing the equivalent of an average domestic cat, was crowned in Pennsylvania, USA, on 19 August. The enormous eggplant tipped the scales at 3.969 kg (8 lb 12 oz) and has been verified by giant fruit and veg experts from the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth.
The supersized fruit – measuring 78.7 cm (2 ft 7 in) around its middle – was nurtured by Harrison City resident Erik Gunstrom (USA). Although he has only been growing aubergines specifically for three years, he told GWR that cultivating giant vegetables in general has been a passionate pursuit of his for far longer.
“Competitive growing for me all started with giant pumpkins close to two decades ago,” Gunstrom explained to GWR. “When I started growing, 1,000 pounds was a monster-size fruit; now 2,000 pounds is needed to be considered an elite grower. My personal best pumpkin was 2,405 lb [1.090.8 kg] in 2022."
The heaviest pumpkin record currently stands at 2,749 lb (1,246.9 kg), grown by fellow American extreme horticulturalist Travis Gienger, as assessed on 9 October 2023.
“I’ve grown a multitude of different veggies competitively over the years,” Gunstrom continued, “from aubergines to zucchini. Literally from A to Z and everything in-between.”
Gunstrom actually put forward two eggplants for appraisal at the Giant Eagle Market District between Export and Murrysville on 19 August, with the weighing 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! – Jay Yohe, president of the Pennsylvania Giant Pumpkin Growers Association
Incredibly, both of the aubergines broke the existing world record mark to beat, with the slightly smaller example still registering a mighty 3.900 kg (8 lb 9.6 oz) – which is some 12 times heavier than a typical eggplant you’d find at the supermarket.
Gunstrom, who plans to make a replica of his record-breaking aubergine for posterity, was blown away when he saw the results of the weigh-in: “I felt just like you would feel if you had won the Super Bowl!”
Out of every single person on the planet that has grown an eggplant, I have grown the biggest eggplant to ever exist on EARTH. 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! – Erik Gunstrom, grower of the heaviest eggplant
This heroic horticultural success story comes in spite of some major weather hurdles in 2025, as the Pennsylvanian gardener revealed: “In all my years of growing, this was probably the toughest year in terms of challenging weather conditions.
“The season started with very wet and cold temperatures which hung around till June. Then all of a sudden, it was like someone flipped a switch and the heat was instantly turned up 10 notches to make for a very hot and wet summer.
“We had a lot of really big storms that would roll through and dump inches at a time. To be quite honest, I didn’t think these plants were going to make it through the cold wet weather we had early in the season. Somehow they did, and went on to grow some very nice plants and produce two world-record aubergines!”
Gunstrom claims the world record from a 3.778-kg (8-lb 5.3-oz) mega-aubergine produced by Dave Bennett of Iowa, USA, in 2024, which even made a star appearance at the Iowa State Fair.
Prior to this, the record was twice held by the highly respected British competition gardener Peter Glazebrook, with a 3.362-kg (7-lb 6.6-oz) specimen confirmed in 2022, following another that logged 3.12 kg (6 lb 14 oz) in 2021.
Demonstrating just how close-knit and unselfish the competitive vegetable community is, the seed from which Gunstrom grew his duo of record-smashing eggplants originally came from one of Glazebrook’s former record-holding specimens.
It’s fairly common practice for growers of superlative fruit and vegetables to go on to share the resulting seeds so that others might try their luck with seed stock that has already proven its record credentials.
Asked if he could offer any guidance to gardeners with little to no experience of aubergine cultivation – or indeed even old hands that have been growing them for a long time – Gunstrom told us: “Probably the best tip which pertains to every single thing in life: just love what you’re doing! It takes a big plant to grow a big fruit.
“Be extra careful with eggplants. The plants are more powerful than the fruits can handle; I have split many eggplants open from top to bottom over the years by not harvesting them at the right time.”