QTL analyzes related to aroma compounds in fortunaXRubygem F1 strawberry population

Commercially cultivated strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa) varieties have a complex aroma due to the presence of more than 350 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in their fruits. Improving flavor is one of the most important goals for strawberry breeders and especially for breeders. Several traits, such as resistance to both sweet and flavored fruit flesh hard road and preservation, are among the most important but most complex traits in strawberries. Molecular-assisted breeding, especially when combined with markers linked to several traits of interest during the breeding process, will greatly facilitate the selection of complex traits such as flavor in addition to traditional phenotypic evaluations. However, a mixture of 19 compounds, called key volatile compounds (KVC) or basic volatile compounds, is known to give the main strawberry aroma. The genetic structure of cultivated strawberry varieties is not easy to be determined, especially since the number of chromosomes is 2n = 8x = 56 and the aroma is polygenic. In this study, 160 genotypes belonging to the F1 population obtained by crossbreeding Fortuna X Rubygem varieties and their parents were phenotyped in terms of volatile aroma compounds by HS/SPME/GC/MS technique for two years at different harvest periods. A total of 76 ester compounds, 15 terpene compounds, 12 aldehyde compounds, 14 acid compounds, 37 alcohol compounds, 7 different chemical classes including one lactone and one furan compound were identified. A total of 229 QTL (LOD > 2.0) were found for a total of 28 aroma volatile compounds.