Relationship between stability of eating quality of strawberry cultivars and their sugar and organic acid contents

Abstract

In 1995-1996, the eating quality based on sugar and organic acid content of 43 strawberry cultivars grown in the forcing and open cultures, were evaluated and the relationships among these characters and eating qualities and their stabilities were investigated. 1. The cultivars with excellent eating quality had significantly higher total sugar content, total sugar/organic acid ratio, sucrose/organic acid ratio, and lower total organic acid content than those with poor eating quality. 2. The cultivars which retained their eating quality throughout the harvest season had significantly lower coefficient of variation (c.v.) of total sugar content, sucrose/total sugar ratio, glucose/total sugar ratio and citric acid/organic acid ratio compared to the cultivars with variable eating quality. There was no significant difference in the sugar and organic acid contents between cultivars with stable and unstable eating quality. 3. Eating quality was highly correlated with sucrose/organic acid ratio, and c.v. of citric acid/organic acid ratio, whereas its stability was highly correlated with c.v. of glucose/total sugar ratio, c.v. of total sugar content, and c.v. of citric acid/organic acid ratio. Therefore, it is possible to select the cultivars with excellent and stable eating quality by detarmining the high stable, total sugar/organic acid ratio, especially high sucrose/total sugar ratio.