Giant pomegranates the size of Galia melons have gone on sale in 500 Tesco stores around the UK.

The huge fruits, called Wonderful, have been supplied by major Israeli exporter Agrexco and weigh in at 650g each - nearly twice the size of a standard pomegranate.

The new additions to the exotic fruit aisle cost £1.99 each at Tesco, compared with 76p for smaller pomegranates. Asda is offering its own smaller version of the giant fruit for £1.28 each.

The pomegranate's reputation as a healthy food full of antioxidants has boosted UK sales by 119% in the year to September 2007, according to figures from TNS.

"Demand for pomegranates is soaring so fast that we thought we would try and track down something really special to impress shoppers - this is what we came up with," said Tesco buyer Paul Cunningham.

"These whoppers are quite simply jaw-dropping when you first see them. The pomegranates have a big wow factor."