Brazilian aged 114 is oldest human

Maria Gomes Valentim attributes her longevity to eating a daily roll of bread for breakfast along with fruit, although she indulges in the occasional nip of wine.

Guinness said that Ms Valentim, is 48 days older than the previous holder, Besse Cooper from Monroe, Georgia, in the US.

Guinness verified that Ms Valentim was born on July 9, 1896, in Carangola in the south-eastern state of Minas Gerais, where she has always lived.

Known as “Grandma Quita”, Ms Valentim’s family says she has a stubborn streak and has always made a habit of minding her own business. They also say her father lived to be 100.

“She says she has lived long because she has always taken care of her own life – and not the life of others,” granddaughter Jane Ribeiro Moraes, 63, told a local newspaper.

Ms Moraes added that Ms Valentim has a great affection for feijoada – Brazil’s national dish, a hearty bean stew with various cuts of salted pork meat – and chicken empada pastries “with a lot of hot sauce”.

Craig Glenday, editor in chief of Guinness World Records, said Ms Valentim represents an unprecedented feat for Brazil. He said: “To receive a claim from a woman born during the reign of Queen Victoria – before the Ford Motor Company was formed, or before even George and Ira Gershwin were born – is remarkable in itself, but for that woman to be Brazilian makes it extra special. Never has a successful claim for longevity emerged from Brazil – until now.”

Bound to a wheelchair but mostly in decent health, relatives hope the attention for Ms Valentim might help out her financial situation. They say the woman gets by on Brazil’s minimum pension and relies on the public health system.

Ms Valentim married her husband Joao in 1913, but he died in 1946. They had one son, four grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren and five great-great-grandchildren.