Within-season Stability of Strawberry Soluble Solids Content

Abstract

Previous studies have recognized considerable variation in the soluble solids content (SSC) of strawberries (Fragaria ×ananassa) during Florida’s fruiting season. Cultivars with stable fruit SSC over time would be valued in the commercial industry as a result of their more uniform quality. The within-season stability of 410 genotypes from the strawberry breeding program of the University of Florida was estimated using data from clonally replicated first-year seedlings and advanced selections evaluated at two locations over two consecutive seasons. Stability was measured using a linear regression approach. For each genotype, the SSC measured at different harvest dates was regressed on the mean SSC of an independent set of genotypes at each harvest date. Genotypes with steep slopes are sensitive to small environmental and physiological changes and are considered unstable compared with genotypes with slopes close to zero. Approximately 90% of individual genotype slopes were not different from the population slope value and were classified in the average stability group, whereas the remaining 10% were equally distributed between the unstable and stable groups. Although a preliminary genetic analysis indicated that SSC stability may have low narrow-sense heritability (h2 = 0.06 ± 0.05), a group of genotypes exhibited stability across multiple environments. Soluble solids content stability and mean soluble solids were independent, and genotypes with both stable and high levels of SSC were observed.