Ascorbic acid content evaluation and regulation in strawberry germplasm

Ascorbic acid (vitamin C), as an essential nutrient, is getting increasing attention and strawberries are considered one of its richest natural sources. Current study focused on combined influence of growth conditions, cultivars, and maturity stages on vitamin C content and related characters of fruit chemistry and appearance. Strawberries produced under open field conditions exhibited higher vitamin C content witnessing the role of full sunlight exposure in vitamin C biosynthesis. Protected conditions caused fruits to develop more pigments but accumulated lesser vitamin C. The genotypic influences were significant, showing cultivar Calinda better in organic acids but poor in firmness. Cultivar Sabrina showed highest fruit firmness but at the cost of commercially desired fruit quality characters. Cultivar Sahara performed best for vitamin C and fruit redness, and was high in fruit size, weight, firmness, and organic acids. Two-way and three-way interactions between cultivars, growth conditions, and maturity stages were significant indicating an absolute requisite of studying combined influences in actual field, rather than single factor, controlled, lab experiments. Multiple, large-scale, field studies will shed more light on metabolic regulation of fruit quality. Keywords: Ascorbic acid; Organic acids; Antioxidant; Fragaria; Protected; Environment; Cultivar; Color