Albion and Monterey, the preferred strawberries

Intensive specialty crop production within high tunnel systems in the Central United States has greatly expanded. This production system, along with spring-planted day-neutral strawberry production, could provide growers with both early and late-season income. This study identifies which spring-planted, day-neutral strawberry cultivars are successful in a plasticulture, high tunnel system in regards to yield, quality, storage life, and consumer opinion, and investigates the treatment effect of evaporative cooling. The trial was conducted at the Kansas State University Olathe Horticulture Research and Extension Center during summer 2014. Six commercially-available cultivars were evaluated (Albion, Evie2, Monterey, Portola, San Andreas, and Seascape). 90-100% red, mature fruit was harvested twice weekly and four harvests were evaluated for postharvest quality throughout the season. Storage life was monitored every 24h by respiration rate, water loss and visual decay, with a scale from 5(excellent) to 1(very poor). Physical and organoleptic quality were evaluated every other day, and nutritional quality was evaluated on the day of harvest. Consumer analysis examined the overall likeness (9-pt Hedonic scale) of the varieties based on color, flavor, texture, and sweetness. Our results indicate that throughout the entire season (May 10-October 7), Portola had the highest yield (1.32 lbs/plant). Shelf life results illustrate that Seascape and Evie2 decayed quicker with significantly more water loss in comparison to San-Andreas and Portola (P<0.001). Similarly, texture measurements of Evie2 and Seascape exhibited low firmness levels throughout the season (P<0.001). Consumer research indicated significantly high overall liking of Monterey and Albion based on flavor, color, and texture. ? SourcesPre-harvest effects on postharvest quality of spring-planted, day-neutral strawberries in high tunnelsKelly Gude, Cary L. Rivard, Helena P. Chiebao, Marianne Swaney-Stueve, Eleni Pliakoni22201 W. Innovation Dr., Dept. of Horticulture, Forestry and Rec. Resources, Kansas State University, Olathe KS 66061, United States of AmericaVIII International Postharvest Symposium, Cartagena, Spain, 21-24 June 2016 Picture:?s2.hdstatic.net