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Article: Not so sweet potato.(GROSS OUT)
- Article from:
- Science World
- Article date:
- April 6, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2009 Scholastic, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Last December, Khalil Semhat caused a commotion when he discovered a monster veggie on his farm in the country of Lebanon. While harvesting one of his fields, Semhat dug up what looked like an 11.3 kilogram (24.9 pound) potato. The super-size vegetable was to be the world's largest potato.
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But after taking a closer look at photos of Semhat's veggie, scientists say it is not a record breaker. In fact, it's not even a potato! "That is definitely a sweet potato," says Kenneth Pecota, a plant breeder at North Carolina State University. "It's a completely different plant species."
Like a potato, a sweet potato is an ...