Yield and fruit quality of sixteen Fragaria vesca accessions grown in southern Florida

Authors: CHAMBERS, ALAN - University Of Florida; MOON, PAMELA - University Of Florida; FU, YUQING - University Of Florida; CHOISEUL, JULIETTE - University Of Florida; Bai, Jinhe; Baldwin, Elizabeth - Liz; Plotto, Anne

Submitted to: HortScience
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/3/2018
Publication Date: 10/1/2018
Citation: Chambers, A., Moon, P., Fu, Y., Choiseul, J., Bai, J., Baldwin, E.A., Plotto, A. 2018. Yield and fruit quality of sixteen Fragaria vesca accessions grown in southern Florida. HortScience. 53(10):1396-1403. https://doi.org/10.21273/ HORTSCI13322-18.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTSCI13322-18

Interpretive Summary: Fragaria vesca, also known as "Wood strawberries", are not grown in large scale commercially because they produce small fruit that are not resistant to handling or shipping. However, the fruit is very aromatic and appreciated by connoisseurs seeking gourmet food, and there is a potential for its cultivation for local markets. This article reports yield and fruit quality data of 16 F. vesca cultivars grown in southern Florida.

Technical Abstract: Fragaria vesca is a diploid strawberry species that produces gourmet, aromatic fruits with only limited commercial production due to its relative obscurity. Most F. vesca research focuses on genetics and fruit aroma, but yield and fruit quality data across diploid accessions are lacking. Sixteen F. vesca accessions were grown in replicated field plots in southern Florida to measure field performance and fruit quality over multiple harvests during a single growing season. Accessions ‘Reine des Vallees’, ‘Baron Solemacher’, ‘Fragolina di Bosco’, and ‘Reugen’ all had significantly higher yield (115-140 g/plot/week) and fruit number (117-139 fruit/plot/week) compared to ‘Bowlenzauber’, ‘Attila’, ‘Ali Baba’, and ‘Pineapple Crush’ (31-57 g/plot/week and 32-60 fruit/plot/week) during peak production. Total average yield ranged from 240 g (‘Pineapple Crush’) to 1,194 g (‘Baron Solemacher’) per plot of ten plants. Fruit number and fruit yield were highly correlated (R2=0.96) for all accessions, and there was no significant difference in fruit weight among accessions through the entire season. Total soluble solids ranged from 10.9-13.5 °Brix, and fructose, glucose, sucrose, and total sugars ranged from 1.53-2.21%, 1.35-2.00%, 0.01-0.27%, 2.97-4.25%, respectively, by fresh weight. Acidity ranged from 1.00 to 1.18% citric acid, and was not consistently significantly different among accessions over multiple harvests. Forty-two aroma compounds were putatively identified over three harvests for each accession, mostly esters and ketones, with a few alcohols, terpenes and aldehydes. The majority of these compounds were similarly abundant over harvests and among accessions with a few exceptions including methyl anthranilate. These results are the first in-depth study of yield and fruit quality for a large number of F. vesca accessions that could lead to increased cultivation of this species for domestic production serving local markets.