Improving strawberry cultivars for the future

Grufesa S.A.T., a strawberry production and nursery company, and IFAPA, a public agricultural research institute, have combined their knowledge, know-how and experience for the development and release of new strawberry cultivars, for fresh market, well-adapted to the agronomic and environmental conditions of Huelva (southwest coast of Spain), which is currently the leading European producer of strawberries. A breeding program was started in 2015, and, until now, 471 crosses between selected genotypes have been carried out, and 18518 seedlings, 242 first year selections, 50 second year selections, and five advanced selections have been evaluated at an experimental field located in Moguer (Huelva). In this work, results of the evaluation of the five advanced selections (259-0, 94-3, 37-1, 20-3 and 9-2) are presented, in comparison with control cultivars, well-adapted to the area, as 'Fortuna', 'Primoris' and 'Rociera', for yield related parameters and organoleptic, functional and postharvest quality. The selection 259-0 stood out for its high functional quality, presenting the highest value of antioxidant capacity. 259-0 and 37-1 showed a high soluble solids content, and 9-2, 20-3 and 94-3 presented the firmest fruits. According to related yield parameters, 0-259 was the most productive, and 37-1 showed a high early yield. All the selections displayed a low percentage of second-class fruits. Our results indicate that the advanced selections of this breeding program can be competitive with cultivars released by other programs.