Consistency of organoleptic and yield related traits of strawberry cultivars over time

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa Duch.) is among the most widely consumed fruits in the world and its cultivation is increasing worldwide. This continuous increase in its cultivation acreage is concomitant with the development of new varieties by numerous breeding programs. Due to strawberry is a microclimatic crop, the behaviour of the cultivars could vary depending on many agronomical and environmental factors such as temperature or humidity. Thus, for some traits, data from a single crop season may not be enough to suspect the behaviour of a specific variety. OBJECTIVE: Generate information that allows knowing the consistency of different characteristics over time. METHODS: For four consecutive years, organoleptic and yield related traits were analysed in five strawberry cultivars. RESULTS: The overall result is a significant effect of genotype on all yield relates and organoleptic parameters studied. Our study also inferred an effect of environment, temperature and relative humidity, mainly on yield parameters. However, not all cultivars were similarly affected. CONCLUSIONS: With the information generated from this work, it will be possible to establish, based on the consistency of the cultivar trials over time, the suitability of using the results of a single season to predict the behaviour of a particular cultivar.