Generating novel strawberry pre-breeding material from a Fragaria × ananassa backcrossing program with F. virginiana subsp. glauca inter-specific hybrids

Strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) breeding programs focus on increasing plant resilience and fruit nutritional quality. Wild octoploid strawberry (F. virginiana and F. chiloensis) are very important sources of genes for increasing disease resistance, fruit quality, and bioactive compounds, in particular vitamins and polyphenols. These compounds contribute to the strawberry fruit antioxidant capacity and, consequently, for the many health benefits of strawberry consumption. Inter-specific crossing of the commercial Fragaria × ananassa with wild species broadened the gene pool to obtain new pre-breeding material with improved plant and fruit characteristics. This study performed different backcross generations between F. × ananassa and F. virginiana subsp. glauca with the aim of identifying the minimum number of generations needed to produce new pre-breeding materials which would combine new interesting traits nearer to obtain high production amount, high sugar content, and high fruit firmness that are now requested at commercial level.