‘Joly’ and ‘Sibilla’: Two newer strawberry cultivars with better biochemical traits compared with their common parent ‘Clery’

Abstract

The most popular cultivated strawberry is the dessert strawberry (Fragaria×ananassa Duch.) from which breeders have created an abundance of new improved cultivars with specific agronomic, qualitative and sensorial characteristics. In this study, two newly introduced strawberry cultivars ‘Joly’ and ‘Sibilla’ were compared with their mutual parent and commercial cultivar ‘Clery’ in terms of individual phenolics, sugars, and organic acids content. All forms of free pelargonidin were significantly higher in ‘Joly’ and ‘Sibilla’ (17.6 and 11.3 µg/g FW, respectively) compared to ‘Clery’ (3.4 µg/g FW), in which cyanidin 3-glucoside is the dominant (6.2 µg/g FW). Quercetin 3-O-glucuronide values were higher in ‘Sibilla’ and ‘Joly’ (17.4 and 11.6 µg/g FW, respectively) than in ‘Clery’ (2.6 µg/g FW). The highest values of p-coumaric acid were detected in ‘Sibilla’ (6.2 µg/g FW). Fructose content (3.1 g/100g FW) was the highest in ‘Joly’, sucrose content (0.8 g/100g FW) in ‘Sibilla’, while glucose content was similar in all three cultivars. The highest value of fumaric and citric acid (13.1 µg/g and 6.2 mg/g FW, respectively) was detected in ‘Sibilla’, while malic and shikimic acid had similar values in all three cultivars. Two newer strawberry cultivars ‘Joly’ and ‘Sibilla’ generally had higher levels of analyzed bioactive compounds compared to their common parent ‘Clery’. Given that sensorial and nutritional quality of strawberry fruit is significantly affected by the ratio of sugars and organic acids, as well as their combination with phenolic compounds, the established better fruit quality of newer cultivars indicated their significant potential for commercial cultivation.