World’s Largest Truffle Sells For $61,250 At Auction [PHOTO]

The largest white truffle ever found sold Saturday for $61,250 in New York City auction. The record-setting 4.16 pound fungus was bought by a food and wine lover from Taiwan, a spokesperson for Sotheby's told the Associated Press.

"This is an extraordinary find," Federico Balestra, president of Sabatino Truffles, told CNN. One of his company’s employees found the rare truffle last week in Umbria, Italy, while hunting for the fungus with his young dog.

"Usually it's the older, more experienced dogs that make these finds because it takes a very trained nose to find them," Balestra said. "White truffles can be buried 10- to 15 inches underground sometimes."

White truffles are rare finds. They grow in select parts of Italy three months of the year -- and are usually the size of a walnut. The man who discovered the truffle said it was buried four inches underground.

"When the hunter started to dig, he realized how much he had to keep digging and the size of the hole he was making. He couldn't believe it," Balestra said.

A buyer in China reportedly offered $1 million for the football-size fungus, Sabatino Truffles said. Instead, the company decided to sell the truffle in a New York City auction. The proceeds will benefit Citymeals-on-Wheels and the Children's Glaucoma Foundation in Boston.