Largest fruit

The world's largest fruit is produced by the Atlantic giant pumpkin, which constitutes a large squash within the group of common squash Cucurbita maxima, and is native to North America. On 9 October 2016, a new record for the heaviest pumpkin weighing 1,190.49 kg (2,624.6 lb) and grown by Mathias Willemijns (Belgium) was authenticated by the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth (GPC) in Ludwigsburg, Germany. It surpassed the previous record-holding specimen by some 136 kg.

The previous record specimen had weighed 1,054 kg (2,323 lb), was owned by Swiss pumpkin grower Beni Meier, and had set the record at the same championship venue back in 2014. As shown here, giant pumpkins can exceed 1 tonne (1,000 kg) in weight, and they originated from South America's large squash by way of efforts made by enthusiastic farmers and botanical societies. Nowadays, a number of notable giant pumpkin festivals are held annually around the world at which specimens are entered in competitions to discover the largest in existence.