It is concluded that the post-flowering temperature has marked effects on the concentration of important chemical compounds responsible for taste and nutritional value of black currant berries, whereas photoperiod has no such effect in the studied cultivars. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

IntroductionBlackcurrant (Ribes nigrum L.) is an excellent example of a “super fruit” with potential health benefits. Both genotype and cultivation environment are known to affect the chemical composition of blackcurrant, especially ascorbic acid and various phenolic compounds. Environmental conditions, like temperature, solar radiation and precipitation can also have significant impact on fruit chemical composition. The relevance of the study is further accentuated by the predicted and ongoing changes in global climate.ObjectivesThe aim of the present study was to provide new knowledge and a deeper understanding of the effects of post flowering environmental conditions, namely temperature and day length, on fruit quality and chemical composition of blackcurrant using an untargeted high performance liquid chromatography–photo diode array–mass spectrometry (HPLC–PDA–MS) metabolomics approach.MethodsA phytotron experiment with cultivation of single-stemmed potted plants of blackcurrant cv. Narve Viking was conducted using constant temperatures of 12, 18 or 24 °C and three different photoperiods (short day, short day with night interruption, and natural summer daylight conditions). Plants were also grown under ambient outdoor conditions. Ripe berries were analysed using an untargeted HPLC–PDA–MS metabolomics approach to detect the presence and concentration of molecules as affected by controlled climatic factors.ResultsThe untargeted metabolomics dataset contained a total of 7274 deconvolved retention time-m/z pairs across both electrospray ionisation (ESI) positive and negative polarities, from which 549 metabolites were identified or minimally annotated based upon accurate mass MS. Conventional principal component analysis (PCA) in combination with the Friedman significance test were applied to first identify which metabolites responded to temperature in a linear fashion. Multi-block hierarchical PCA in combination with the Friedman significance test was secondly applied to identify metabolites that were responsive to different day length conditions. Temperature had significant effect on a total of 365 metabolites representing a diverse range of chemical classes. It was observed that ripening of the blackcurrant berries under ambient conditions, compared to controlled conditions, resulted in an increased accumulation of 34 annotated metabolites, mainly anthocyanins and flavonoids. 18 metabolites were found to be regulated differentially under the different daylength conditions. Moreover, based upon the most abundant anthocyanins, a comparison between targeted and untargeted analyses, revealed a close convergence of the two analytical methods. Therefore, the study not just illustrates the value of non-targeted metabolomics approaches with respect to the huge diversity and numbers of significantly changed metabolites detected (and which would be missed by conventional targeted analyses), but also shows the validity of the non-targeted approach with respect to its precision compared to targeted analyses.ConclusionsBla...

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The aim of this study was to examine the genetic and climatic impact on yield parameters and fruit chemical composition of black currant cultivars (Ribes nigrum L.). Correlation analysis between fruit parameters and climatic conditions over a period of eight years revealed a positive correlation between yield and precipitation during fruit development, whereas summer temperatures and radiation were negatively correlated with yield. Higher soluble solid concentrations occurred in years with high summer temperatures and radiation, while anthocyanins concentrations were negatively correlated with summer temperature. Furthermore, a negative correlation between phenolic compounds and radiation in June and July was observed. Temperature and radiation in late spring and summer were also negatively correlated with ascorbic acid concentration, while precipitation during summer was highly positively correlated with this important vitamin. These results indicate that to achieve high yield of quality black currants, rich in phenolic compounds, anthocyanins and ascorbic acid, cool summer conditions with ample precipitation are desirable. The observed cultivar variation in the content of health-related phytochemicals provides a good potential for further breeding of new cultivars with improved fruit quality.

It is not known to what degree growth and fruit yield are source-limited in everbearing strawberry plants. The growth and yield performance effect of bi-weekly removal of all runners and/or one or two leaves during the cropping season of tunnel-grown ‘Favori’ everbearing strawberry plants was determined. Plants were grown on a table-top system in an open plastic tunnel under natural light conditions in Norway from May to October. Removal of runners and leaves was bi-weekly from 5 June until 25 September. Fruits were harvested from 5 July to 7 October. Bi-weekly runner removal increased total and marketable yield and number and size of fruits, while increasing leaf thinning had the opposite effects. However, none of the treatments affected the fruit number and yield of the first fruiting flush. The treatments did not affect realization of the yield potential of the plants at planting, whereas the continued floral initiation and fruit growth were enhanced by runner removal. Increasing leaf thinning had the opposite effects. Both floral initiation and fruit growth in heavily flowering and fruiting everbearing strawberry are source-limited owing to the high fruit/leaf ratio of such plants.