New Zealand Couple Told Their Giant Record-Breaking Potato Is Not Actually a Potato at All

Colin Craig-Brown via AP Donna Craig-Brown and a potato named Doug

A couple in New Zealand thought they had found the world's largest potato, but DNA testing proved otherwise.

After Colin and Donna Craig-Brown submitted a giant spud they discovered and subsequently named Doug to Guinness World Records, the couple was informed their root vegetable wasn't a potato, after all, The Associated Press reports.

Colin, who found the potato with his wife on their farm near Hamilton, New Zealand, told the AP that tests determined Doug was a tuber of a gourd.

"What can you say?" Colin told the AP. "We can't say we don't believe you, because we gave them the DNA stuff."

Donna Craig-Brown via AP Doug the potato

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Guinness broke the news to Colin and Donna in an email last week, per the AP. The message reads, in part, "sadly the specimen is not a potato and is in fact the tuber of a type of gourd. For this reason we do unfortunately have to disqualify the application."

Despite the disappointing message from Guinness, Colin and Donna still keep Doug in their home, where the tuber sits in their freezer. Colin told the AP, "I say 'gidday' to him every time I pull out some sausages. He's a cool character."

Before they discovered Doug's true identity, Colin and Donna were planning to make what they thought was a giant potato into a vodka, according to The Wall Street Journal. The couple predicted they could make one to two bottles from Doug; Colin is still considering using the tuber for an alternate beverage.

Donna Craig-Brown via AP Doug the potato

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Samantha Baldwin of New Zealand's Plant & Food Research — which tested samples of the tuber — told The Wall Street Journal that Doug "just wasn't behaving like a potato should."

"We couldn't identify DNA sequences that are specific to potatoes," Baldwin added in a statement.

Guinness World Records Managing Editor Adam Millward said in a statement shared with The Wall Street Journal, "This has been a fascinating journey of discovery and we're glad we've been able to get to the root—well, technically, tuber—of the matter."

Millward added, "We wish the Craig-Browns all the best with their future horticultural endeavors."

The current Guinness World Record for heaviest potato belongs to the UK's Peter Glazebrook, who grew a 10 lb, 14 oz potato, which he displayed at the National Gardening Show at the Royal Bath & West Showground in 2011.

Doug's official weight is just over 17 pounds, according to the AP.