JERUSALEM - Israeli farmer Chahi Ariel has grown the world's heaviest strawberry, according to Guinness World Records.

At 289 grams, the strawberry was about five times the average weight of a regular berry of the local Ilan variety, said Nir Dai, a researcher at Israel's Volcani Institute where the strain was developed.

The strawberry was 18 cm long and 34 cm in circumference, the online Guinness entry said.

Ariel had been hoping he was onto a winner when they saw how big the fruit were growing on his family farm last year. He has been waiting for confirmation it was a record while keeping the giant strawberry in the freezer as proof.

"When we heard, it was an amazing feeling. I jumped in the car, laughed and sang," said Ariel, proudly displaying his certificate on a laptop. "We’ve been waiting for this for a long time."

Unusually cold weather in early 2021 slowed the strawberry's ripening process, allowing it to continue gaining weight, according to the record book's website.

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The previous record was held by a Japanese farmer who discovered a 250-gram strawberry in his harvest in 2015. (Reporting by Ramy Amichay; Writing by Henriette Chacar; Editing by Alison Williams)

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