Abstract
Strawberry and wild strawberry are among the most popular horticultural crops. Due to the development of soilless cultivation systems, the whole-year production of these economically important fruit crops is achievable even in countries with temperate climate. However, the responses of strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) and wild strawberry (Fragaria vesca L.) to microclimate conditions in greenhouse gutter cultivation in the autumn–winter season in Poland have not been yet determined. The aim of this study was to analyze the physiological, biochemical, and biometrical responses of two cultivars of strawberry ‘Ostara’ and ‘San Andreas’ and two cultivars of wild strawberry ‘Baron von Solemacher’ and ‘Regina’ grown for 20 weeks, starting from September 17th, in controlled greenhouse conditions on coconut mats in gutters in the autumn–winter season and irradiated with sodium lamps. Strawberry ‘San Andreas’ produced 30% larger leaves and almost three-fold higher fresh and dry weight of biomass than ‘Ostara’. The strawberry plants ‘San Andreas’ had a higher content (20%) of chlorophyll a and 30% of chlorophyll b than ‘Ostara’ plants. Generally, ‘San Andreas’ displayed an overall higher concentration of intercellular CO2 (about 14%) than ‘Ostara’ plants providing higher gas exchange processes. Photosynthetic rate amounted to 13.0 μmol·m−2·s−1 for ‘San Andreas’ that was almost two-fold higher than for ‘Ostara’. ‘San Andreas’ flower and fruit productions were uniform and the six-fold higher individual fruit yield proved the excellent attributes of this cultivar to the greenhouse cultivation. Even though the productivity of the two studied wild strawberry cultivars was similar, ‘Regina’ showed higher values of some parameters than ‘Baron von Solemacher’ (40% larger leaves, 25% higher photosynthetic rate, 10% higher concentration of intercellular CO2). A high nutritional value of fruits is maintained compared to traditional open-air cultivation.
Highlights
Fruit berries, especially strawberry and wild strawberry (Rosaceae), belong to the most popular horticultural crops
As for strawberry ‘San Andreas’, the flower and fruit production were more uniform during the cultivation period, and even a slight increase in flower formation was observed in the last three weeks
Our study has shown that strawberries and wild strawberries grown in controlled greenhouse conditions on coconut mats in gutters in the autumn–winter season, irradiated with sodium lamps, give a rather high anthocyanins content, reaching up to 0.486 mg g−1 in the fresh fruit weight in ‘San Andreas’ cultivar
Summary
Especially strawberry and wild strawberry (Rosaceae), belong to the most popular horticultural crops. They have delicious taste and aroma, high economic importance, low calorific value, and are of great interest for nutritionists and food technologists because they are often consumed in fresh form when the most bioactive compounds are still active and in the greatest amount [1]. Octoploid cultivated strawberries (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) and diploid wild or wood strawberries (Fragaria vesca L.) are consumed in high quantities (the yield of strawberry is the 7th largest in the world) [3] and are a valuable source of ascorbic acid, potassium, fiber, simple sugars, as well as antioxidants, such as phenolics, anthocyanins, and other flavonoid compounds [4,5,6]. Numerous studies on the cultivation, physiology, and health-promoting properties of (wild) strawberry are performed
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