The 285-year-old lemon that fetched 拢1,400 and other really old foods

Image source, Brettells Auctioneers

Image caption, When life gives you lemons, perhaps the best thing isn't to make lemonade after all

A 285-year-old lemon was at the centre of a bidding war this month, which saw a buyer eventually in-zest an incredible 拢1,400 in the fruit.

It was found hiding in the bottom drawer of a 19th century chest which was being photographed to be sold.

The chest sold at Brettells auctioneers in Shropshire for just a fraction of the price of the hidden fruit - just 拢32.

The citrus fruit is inscribed with a note which reads 'Given By Mr P Lu Franchini Nov 4 1739 to Miss E Baxter'.

Check out these other aged and ancient foods, including some 2,000 year-old butter.

Ancient fruit fossil

Image source, Peter Wilf, Penn State

A 52-million-year-old fruit fossil was discovered in South America in 2023.

The ancient berry is exciting because it is from the same family of plants as potatoes, tomatoes and peppers.

On the fossil, you can see the lines of the papery wrapping that grew around the fruit.

It was found in the Patagonia area of Argentina and researchers are hoping to find lots more plant fossils there.

Two-thousand-year-old bog butter

Image source, Cavan County Museum/PA

Image caption, Have you ever seen a lump of butter this big?

This huge 2,000-year-old lump of butter was found in a bog near Drakerath in Ireland in 2016.

It probably wouldn't fit inside your fridge - it weighs as much as 10 large bags of sugar.

Conditions in bogs are good for preserving things so the butter is in a good state, even though it's so old.

It does, however, smell like strong cheese. We're not sure which would smell worse, this butter, or...

Three-hundred-and-forty-year-old cheese

Image source, The Kronan Project/Kalmar County Museum

Image caption, Cheese that no longer looks like cheese after being stuck on the seabed for 340 years

In the same year, divers were exploring a shipwreck buried deep under the sea near Sweden when they found this jar.

They didn't know there was cheese inside until the journey to the surface caused some of the contents to leak, releasing a very strong smell.

The stinky discovery was made when the team were investigating the wreck of the Kronan, a warship that sank 348 years ago.

Now that's taking mature cheddar to the extreme.

Sixty-year-old cake

In 2015, an American couple revealed they were still eating their wedding cake, 60 years after it was first baked in 1955.

Ann and Ken Fredericks, from Florida, decided to eat one piece of the fruit cake every year to celebrate the day they got married.

Video caption, Watch the couple eating 60-year-old cake

They said their children were horrified by them eating such old food but insist that it still tastes as good as ever.

We're wondering how long it'll take them to finish the whole cake.