Categorized | Agriculture, Featured

World’s largest soursop is Kona’s third Guinness record

Beth Smith and Ken Verosko, owners of the South Kona Fruit Stand and Farm in Honaunau Hawaii pose with their 8.14 pound Soursop fruit. Also called Guanabana, the fruit measured 24 inches around and 11.5 inches long.

MEDIA RELEASE

A Kona couple has been recognized by Guinness for growing the world’s largest soursop.

Ken Verosko and Beth Smith, of Honaunau’s South Kona Fruit Stand and Farm, recently produced an 8.14-pound soursop that measured 24 inches around and 11.5 inches long. The gargantuan fruit was harvested in June.

According to Ken Love, executive director of the statewide Hawaii Tropical Fruit Growers Association (HTFG), this is the third time a fruit grown in Kona has been deemed a Guinness World Record.

The late George Schattauer and his wife Margaret of Captain Cook earned the record for the world’s largest jackfruit in 2003; it tipped the scale at more than 76 pounds. In 2006, Colleen Porter grew the world’s biggest mango in her Kailua-Kona orchard. The massive mango weighed 5 pounds, 7 ounces and was about the size of a human head.

“What’s really amazing is that this soursop grew so big with the drought we’ve been having,” Verosko said.

The couple received a certificate July 30 from Guinness making the world record official.

Smith describes the taste of soursop as “a pina colada without the rum.” The New York native said the flavor is a combination of pineapple, banana, lime and coconut. She said soursop is ripe when a yellowish-green and soft to the touch. To eat it fresh, you cut it in half and spoon out the fruit.

“You have to spit out the seeds, like eating a watermelon,” Smith said.

The exotic fruit can be used to make a delicious juice, preserves or jelly. In Malaysia, its delicate flavor enhances ice cream and puddings while in the Philippines, a young fruit is cooked as a vegetable with coconut milk.

Medicinally, the soursop has multiple uses. Young shoots and leaves are a remedy for coughs and indigestion. Leaves are mashed to alleviate eczema and rheumatism. The unripe fruit has astringent properties.

The couple grew their gigantic soursop on their six-acre farm where they cultivate 700 fruit trees, including mango, avocado, citrus, pomegranate and dragonfruit. Verosko says the season for soursop varies but the fruit is still for sale at their stand, which is located between mile markers 103-104 on Highway. 11.

Deadline for early registration with a discounted fee for the 20th Annual Hawaii International Tropical Fruit Conference is Aug. 15. The gathering is Sept. 24-26 at the Aston Aloha Beach Resort on Kauai.

The anniversary event is geared for farmers, educators, orchard managers and proponents of sustainable agriculture. Headlining the conference is Dr. Noris Ledesma of the Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden Center in Florida.

The HTFG conference is open to the public. Registration forms are available on www.Hawaiifruit.net or by contacting Love at kenlove@kona.net. It’s sponsored by the Office of Economic Development County of Kauai.

Incorporated in 1989 to promote tropical fruit grown in Hawaii, HTFG is a statewide association of tropical fruit growers, packers, distributors and hobbyists dedicated to tropical fruit research, education, marketing and promotion; www.hawaiitropicalfruitgrowers.org

Beth Smith, Ken Verosko and the world's largest soursop. (Photo courtesy of HTFG)

5 Responses to “World’s largest soursop is Kona’s third Guinness record”

  1. YUM ! We love soursop and that is just the right size to chow down on !
    Congratulations go out to Beth Smith & Ken Verosko as the growers of this magnificent specimen

  2. jeannie says:

    Aloha Beth & Ken,

    Can you tell me where I can purchase a soursop tree for my garden in Waimea (Kamuela)? Also, can you tell me where I can purchase the fruit in Waimea? Do we have farmers growing this tree in Waimea?

    Mahalo,

    Jeannie Terminello
    P.O. Box 1800
    Kamuela, HI. 96743

    Tel: 885-5079

  3. Mary Beth says:

    Nice fruits Kenneth !

  4. winston says:

    Soursop plant bear enormous fruit

    We residing in Brunei planted a soursop plant some less than 3 years found an enormous 5 kgs soursop fruit growing in our garden. According to media report, a kona’s couple has been recognized for growing the world’s largest soursop.

    But now, we are the world’s 4th guniness record.

  5. Susan Pacheco says:

    Dear Beth,
    I’ve been searching for sour sop tree to buy.
    Do you sell them?
    I’ve just heard about it’s incredible cancer fighting abilities.
    Or, do you sell fruit by mail? My friend has cancer. I will look through China town on my day off which is Monday.
    Please email me if you do sell keiki’s or have a resource on Oahu that you can share.
    Thank you very much Beth. That’s a lovely n large fruit you have in your photo. 😊

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