Biochemical Changes during Fruit Development of Four Strawberry Cultivars

Abstract

<jats:p>As genetic factors affect strawberry (<jats:italic>Fragaria ×ananassa</jats:italic> Duch.) fruit development and quality, changes in metabolite concentrations were studied during fruit development of four strawberry cultivars grown in the field: three commercial cultivars (Capitola, Elsanta and Dover) and a genotype from Centre Interrégional de Recherche et d'Expérimentation de la Fraise, France (`CF1116'). Major and minor metabolites changed with development. The two strawberry cultivars with the highest starch content at early stages, `Capitola' and `Elsanta', also had the highest fruit weight at harvest. There was no correlation between strawberry weight and osmolarity. At maturity, significant differences were observed among cultivars for most of the metabolites studied. `Capitola' and `Elsanta' responded similarly for most measured variables. `CF1116' was characterized by high juice osmolarity and high sucrose, inositol, glutamine, arginine and alanine concentrations, and low citrate and malate concentrations. `Dover' was characterized by a high galactose concentration and low asparagine and alanine concentrations. Organic acid differences among cultivars appeared early during development, while differences in soluble sugars appeared during maturation. The developmental pattern of each amino acid varied among cultivars. Timing of the biochemical differences observed among cultivars provides some information on their metabolic origin.</jats:p>

Antioxidant profile, antioxidant activity, and physicochemical characteristics of strawberries from different cultivars and harvest locations

“…Therefore, the average total sum of the individual sugar content in 'Janghee' was higher (79.0 g/kg FW) than 'Yukbo' and 'Seolhyang' (65.6 and 66.3 g/kg FW, respectively) ( Table 2). There are several researches on the cultivar effect on individual sugar contents (Moing et al 2001;Choi et al 2013). Choi et al (2013) reported that fructose and glucose content of 'Daewang' and 'Seolhyang' strawberries at their fully ripened stage was higher than sucrose, which was similar to our result.…”

“…The quantification of individual organic acid contents (oxalic acid, malic acid, citric acid, fumaric acid, acetic acid, tartaric acid, succinic acid, and lactic acid) was analyzed by cultivars and harvest locations. It is known that citric acid is a major organic acid in strawberry (Moing et al 2001;Choi et al 2013). In our research, citric acid was also a major organic acid in all cultivars harvested from each location.…”

“…While many studies have been conducted on physicochemical properties of strawberries, little has been done on individual profiles of sugars and organic acids in strawberries considering both fruit cultivars and harvest locations (Wang and Lin 2000;Moing et al 2001;Cordenunsi et al 2002;Meyers et al 2003). Recently, interest in the health benefits of fruits has increased.…”

Physicochemical changes during strawberry development in the field compared with those that occur in harvested fruit during storage

“…Moing et al 25 reported that the pH was close to 5 in strawberries at 10 days after full bloom, decreased to 3.7 at the turning stage and then remained unchanged through full ripeness; however, in previous studies it has been reported that the pH of the fruit increases as strawberry fruit mature. 15,22 Montero et al 23 also reported an increase in strawberry pH after 21 days from fruit set.…”

“…Although the TTA of the strawberries increased during storage, the same was not observed in field-ripened strawberries, as those fruit showed a significant decrease in TTA as they ripened. Moing et al 25 reported an increase in strawberry juice TTA from 10 days after full bloom to the turning stage (change between white and pink) and then a decrease until the fruit were fully red and suitable for commercial picking. Ménager et al 30 showed that the TTA did not differ for white and pink strawberries, but decreased from the one-half red stage to the dark red stage.…”