BEIJING, Dec. 4 (Xinhuanet) -- A casino owner from Macau bid a record 330,000 U.S. dollars at an auction Saturday and took home a giant white truffle uncovered in Tuscany, organizers said.

    Billionaire Stanley Ho made the winning bid for the 3.3 pound truffle during an auction staged simultaneously in Florence, London and at Ho's Grand Lisboa hotel in Macau, said auction organizer Giselle Oberti.

A large truffle is pictured during its auction at the Grand Lisboa hotel in Macau, Dec. 1. The fungus, which was found in a wood near Pisa, in Italy's Tuscany region on 27 Nov. 2007 fetched 330,000 U.S. dollars in the auction.(Reuters File Photo)

    The price handily beat the previous record for a truffle of 212,000 dollars, she said.

    The unusually heavy truffle was dug up last week by truffle hunter Cristiano Savini, his father Luciano and dog Rocco in Palaia, a town about 25 miles from Pisa. The Savinis said Rocco started sniffing "like crazy" when he found the fungus.

    The Guinness World Records lists a 2.86 pound white truffle found in Croatia in 1999 as the biggest.

    Truffles usually weigh from 1 to 2.8 ounces apiece. Slivers of white truffles, with their strong aroma, are prized in Italy to flavor pasta sauces and rice dishes.

    Proceeds from the auction were to go to an Italian organization that helps sufferers of genetic diseases, a group that helps street children in London and Catholic charities in Macau.

    (Agencies)