Eating Quality of Old and New University of Florida Strawberry Cultivars

Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 123:290 295. 2010. Eating Quality of Old and New University of Florida Strawberry Cultivars Anne Plotto* 1, Vance Whitaker 2, and Craig Chandler 2 1USDA-ARS, Citrus and Subtropical Products Research Laboratory, 600 Avenue S, N.W., Winter Haven, FL 33881 2University of Florida, IFAS, Gulf Coast Research and Education Center, 14625 CR 672, Wimauma, FL 33598 Additional index words. Fragaria ananassa, flavor, sensory evaluation, descriptive analysis The University of Florida strawberry breeding program has developed cultivars highly adapted to west-central Florida since the 1970s. In this trial, four advanced selections and 11 released cultivars, from (1975) to Florida (2008), were grown in a randomized complete-block design with 10-plant plots as the unit of replication. Fruit were harvested bi-weekly and evaluated once a month by a trained sensory panel, from January to March 2010. In January, FL-05-107 had the highest ratings for positive attributes (firmness, sweetness and strawberry flavor). Florida Belle ; Earlibrite, Strawberry Festival and FL- had high scores for sweetness and strawberry flavor, but were not as firm as FL-05-107. In February, the highest ratings for positive attributes were given to Florida Elyana and Strawberry Festival while FL- and Florida were rated high in strawberry flavor. In March, Florida Elyana,, Florida and FL- were also rated high in sweetness and strawberry flavor. FL-05-107 and FL-05-85 were consistently rated high in firmness. On the contrary, Sweet Charlie had high sweetness but low firmness ratings in March. The lowest rating for strawberry flavor was given to both in January and February, and a high rating given for overripe/fermented in January and March, and sour in February. Winter Dawn also had high ratings for overripe/fermented and woody/musty in January and March. Strawberries are grown in central Florida during the winter months and supply the bulk of the market in the eastern United States during that time (National Agricultural Statistics Service, 2009). For many years in the 1960s and 1970s, the main commercial cultivars originated from California (Chandler et al., 1988); they produced attractive and large fruit, and had good shipping qualities. However, well-known California cultivars Selva, Pajaro, and Chandler were quite susceptible to anthracnose, a disease with major economic impact for Florida strawberry growers, and had low early-season yields. There was therefore a strong need to create cultivars adapted to the Florida climate and industry needs. Drs. Charles Howard and Craig Chandler conducted the breeding program at the University of Florida from 1968 to 1987 and from 1987 to 2010, respectively. A summary of cultivars released by these two breeders is given in Table 1. The breeding program has sought to improve fruit quality attributes over time through recurrent cycles of selection and hybridization. Some traits such as fruit size and overall appearance are easily selected in the field from visual observations. Other traits influencing flavor such as soluble solids content (SSC), titratable acidity (TA), and volatile compounds have been selected only indirectly by tasting fruit in the field. The objective of this study was to evaluate released cultivars and new advanced selections in a replicated trial in order to examine differences in eating quality. Mention of a trademark or proprietary product is for identification only and does not imply a guarantee or warranty of the product by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The U.S. Department of Agriculture prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or family status. *Corresponding author; phone: (863) 293-4133, ext. 123; email: anne.plotto@ ars.usda.gov Materials and Methods Fruit sampling. Fifteen strawberry cultivars and selections (Table 1) were grown in four replicated plots with 10 plants per plot, on two sites in central Florida: the University of Florida Gulf Coast Research and Extension Center in Balm, and at the headquarters of the Florida Growers Association in. Plots were planted on 14 and 15 Oct. 2009 at Balm and, respectively, and were maintained under commercial standards for irrigation, fertilization, and pesticide application. Fully-ripe fruit were harvested twice weekly; fruit harvested on 26 Jan., 24 Feb., and 24 Mar. 2010 were immediately transported to the U.S. Department of Agriculture laboratory in Winter Haven for evaluation. Twelve (January and March) or 13 (February) cultivars were evaluated per day as not all 15 cultivars had enough fruit for the taste panel each time. Fruit were stored at 5 C overnight before evaluation. On the morning of taste panel, fruit were washed with running tap water, drained, patted dry with paper towels, and served as one or two fruits per panelist, depending on fruit size. Sensory evaluation. Twelve panelists, trained to evaluate fruit including strawberries, met in a 1-h session at the beginning of the season to refresh descriptors and reference standards specific to strawberry flavor evaluation (Table 2). Descriptors were rated using an 11-point category scale, anchored with the words low (0 1), medium (5), and high (10) for the basic taste and flavor descriptors, smooth to rough for surface mouth feel/graininess (indicating the feeling on the tongue of protruding seeds on the surface of the fruit), and soft to very firm for firmness. Samples were presented in a completely randomized design (Williams design) and data were collected using Compusense five (Compusense Inc., Guelph, Ontario, 290 Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 123: 2010.

Table 1. University of Florida cultivars and selections used in the study. U.S. Patent no. Cultivar z (year released) Description (1975) Higher yield and resistance to anthracnose than California cultivars grown at that time. Prone to bruising and uneven color development. (1979) Higher yield and resistance to anthracnose than California cultivars grown at that time. Produces many small fruit at the end of the season. Sweet Charlie PP8,729 (1992) Early season (Dec. to Feb.) production; flavorful fruit; however, poor shipping quality. Rosa Linda PP9,866 (1996) Early season production; attractive and flavorful fruit; moderate firmness; small fruit late in season. Earlibrite PP13,061 (2000) Early season production; large, flavorful, firm fruit; tendency to produce some misshapen fruit. Strawberry Festival PP14,739 (2000) Consistent production from Dec. to Mar., attractive fruit, firm, excellent shelf life and shipping qualities; plant easy to harvest. The main cultivar grown in Central Florida in 2009 10. Carmine PP18,261 (2002) Mid season high yield; compact plant easy to harvest; deep red fruit color. Resistant to botrytis and anthracnose. Rubygem PP17,464 (2003) Good flavor; moderate rain tolerance with a tendency to cracking and blotchy ripening. PP21,558 (2005) Early season production (Nov. to Feb.) with large fruit on small plants. Resistant to botrytis and anthracnose. Florida Elyana PP21,317 (2008) Produces large fruit from Dec. to Mar. Excellent flavor; susceptible to rain cracking; grown under tunnel or dry climate; plant easy to harvest. Florida PP20,363 (2008) Fruit with attractive luster, good flavor; plant easy to harvest. zall cultivars have moderate to good resistance to anthracnose. Table 2. Descriptors and reference standards used by panelists during strawberry evaluation Descriptor Intensity level Reference standard z Sweet Low Sucrose (1%) + citric acid (0.025%) High Sucrose (5%) + citric acid (0.05%) Sour Low Sucrose (2%) + citric acid (0.05%) High Sucrose (2%) + citric acid (0.1%) Astringent Medium Alum (0.1%) Strawberry flavor Low Puree of Strawberry Festival diluted to 5% High Puree of Strawberry Festival (full strength) Green flavor Low cis-3-hexenal in water (1 ppm) High cis-3-hexenal in water (3 ppm) Musty/woody Medium Methyl isoborneol (50 ppb on a filter paper) Fermented/overripe Medium Overripe strawberries let at 25 C overnight zsweet, sour, astringent, strawberry flavor, and green flavor standards were presented in 30-mL soufflé cups (SOLO Cup Company, Urbana, IL); musty/woody was presented in 150-mL red glass covered with aluminum foil; and fermented/overripe was presented in 120-mL soufflé cups (SOLO Cup Co.). Canada). Panelists were instructed to taste one set of samples in the morning, and another set in the afternoon, to avoid fatigue from eating up to 13 samples (each set was comprised of five to seven samples). Taste panels took place in isolated booths under red lighting; panelists were provided with drinking water and unsalted crackers to rinse their mouth between samples. Samples were served at room temperature. Fruit analysis. Fruit were homogenized using a Waring blender (Waring Products Div., Dynamics Corp. of America, New Hartford, CO) and frozen at 20 C for further analyses. The supernatant of thawed homogenates, centrifuged at 12,100 g n for 15 min, was analyzed for TA, ph, and SSC. For TA, 6 g of the supernatant was diluted with 50 ml DI-water and titrated with 0.1 N NaOH to a ph 8.1 endpoint using a Metrohm 808 Titrando and Metrohm 730 sample changer (Metrohm USA Inc., Westbury, NY). SSC was determined with a digital ATAGO PR-101 refractometer, 0% to 45% Brix range (Atago Co., Tokyo, Japan). Statistical analysis. Sensory data were analyzed by analysis of variance (ANOVA) each month using Senpaq (QiStatistics Ltd., Berkshire, UK), using a mixed model with panelist as a random variable. Separation of means was performed with the Fisher LSD test, with a = 0.05. Principal components analysis (PCA) of the means across panelists was performed using XL- STAT software (Addinsoft, Paris, France). Pearson correlation tests were performed each month among sensory variables and between sensory and instrumental variables using XLSTAT. Results and Discussion January harvest. Selection 05-107 had the highest sweetness rating, followed by Earlibrite and Rubygem (Table 3). It also had high strawberry flavor, firmness and low sourness ratings. Sweetness is generally an indicator of good eating quality in strawberries (Jouquand et al., 2008), along with strawberry flavor. On the contrary, Carmine and Rosa Linda had high sourness and astringent ratings (Table 3). The PCA biplot shows how sensory variables are correlated with each other, and shows which variable (descriptor) is predominant in samples (Fig. 1). In January, the Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 123: 2010. 291

Table 3. Average sensory ratings (n = 12) for 15 University of Florida strawberry genotypes harvested 20 Jan., 24 Feb., and 24 Mar. 2010. Genotype 05-107 05-85 06-45 Carmine Earlibrite Elyana Rubygen Sweet Charlie Descriptor January Surface mouthfeel 4.0 ab 4.3 a 3.9 ab 3.5 abc 3.5 abc 2.8 bc 3.7 ab 4.4 a 2.3 c 3.5 abc 4.4 a 3.5 abc Firmness 4.8 a 5.5 a 4.8 ab 3.7 bc 2.0 d 3.7 bc 4.8 ab 4.4 ab 3.2 c 2.9 cd 4.4 ab 2.8 cd Sweetness 5.3 a 3.3 cde 3.9 bcd 3.8 cd 3.2 de 4.9 ab 4.2 bcd 3.7 cd 3.5 cde 3.9 bcd 4.3 abc 2.6 e Sourness 3.2 d 3.5 cd 4.9 ab 5.8 a 4.5 bc 4.7 abc 5.2 ab 3.2 d 4.6 abc 5.8 a 4.3 bcd 4.7 abc Astringent 2.5 bc 2.1 c 2.8 bc 3.7 ab 3.4 ab 3.2 abc 2.6 bc 2.5 bc 3.2 abc 4.2 a 3.2 abc 2.8 bc Strawberry flavor 5.0 ab 3.8 bcde 4.2 abcde 4.5 abcd 3.2 e 5.2 a 4.7 abc 3.4 de 3.8 cde 3.8 bcde 4.6 abc 3.5 cde Green flavor 1.7 d 2.9 abc 3.5 ab 2.4 cd 2.2 cd 2.2 cd 3.6 a 2.7 abcd 2.5 bcd 2.5 bcd 2.0 cd 2.3 cd Overripe 2.4 abc 0.3 e 0.8 de 1.8 bcde 3.2 ab 1.6 bcde 1.0 cde 1.8 bcde 2.2 abcd 2.1 abcd 2.5 abc 3.6 a Woody/musty 1.4 ab 1.1 ab 1.5 ab 1.5 ab 1.4 ab 0.7 b 0.7 b 1.0 ab 1.0 ab 0.9 ab 1.4 ab 1.7 a Surface mouthfeel 2.9 d 3.8 bcd 4.5 ab 3.6 bcd 4.3 abc 5.1 a February 4.2 abc 3.8 bcd 3.8 bcd 4.1 abc 4.0 abcd 3.3 cd 3.7 bcd Firmness 4.7 abcde 5.7 a 5.0 abc 4.4 cde 4.8 abcd 3.9 de 5.0 abc 5.3 abc 5.5 ab 4.6 bcde 3.8 ef 2.8 f 3.8 ef Sweetness 4.8 ab 4.8 ab 4.8 ab 3.4 cd 4.0 bcd 3.3 d 5.7 a 5.0 ab 4.3 bcd 4.4 abcd 4.6 abc 4.2 bcd 3.8 bcd Sourness 3.7 ef 3.4 f 5.0 abcd 5.3 ab 5.3 abc 5.8 a 4.0 def 4.2 bcdef 3.5 f 3.8 def 4.8 abcde 4.1 cdef 4.8 abcde Astringent 2.5 cde 2.1 e 3.5 abcd 3.3 abcde 3.8 abc 3.8 ab 2.8 abcde 2.8 abcde 2.3 de 3.3 abcde 4.0 a 2.3 de 2.6 bcde Strawberry flavor 4.9 abc 4.6 abcd 5.7 a 3.8 cd 4.3 abcd 3.4 d 5.7 a 5.3 ab 3.9 bcd 5.1 abc 4.8 abc 4.8 abcd 3.9 bcd Green flavor 2.3 bc 2.7 abc 3.2 abc 3.4 ab 2.8 abc 2.7 abc 2.3 c 2.2 c 3.7 a 2.8 abc 2.3 c 2.3 bc 3.0 abc Overripe 0.9 b 0.9 b 0.6 b 1.3 b 2.1 ab 1.9 ab 3.1 a 1.4 b 0.8 b 1.8 ab 1.8 ab 1.6 ab 1.3 b Woody/musty 1.3 a 0.8 a 1.4 a 1.0 a 1.9 a 1.3 a 2.0 a 1.7 a 1.2 a 1.7 a 1.3 a 1.3 a 1.5 a March Surface mouthfeel 3.2 bcd 2.9 cd 4.7 a 4.3 ab 3.8 abc 3.6 abcd 3.1 cd 3.3 bcd 3.2 bcd 3.1 cd 2.8 cd 2.5 d Firmness 4.9 a 3.7 bc 4.8 a 4.9 a 3.2 c 4.5 ab 5.2 a 4.5 ab 5.2 a 4.8 a 3.1 c 3.4 c Sweetness 3.7 abc 4.1 ab 3.2 bcd 2.7 d 3.1 cd 3.4 abcd 4.2 a 3.4 abcd 3.9 abc 4.0 abc 3.8 abc 3.3 abcd Sourness 4.2 bcdef 4.0 cdef 5.9 a 5.2 ab 5.1 abc 4.3 bcde 3.1 f 4.9 abc 3.6 def 4.2 bcdef 3.2 ef 4.3 bcd Astringent 2.1 abc 1.9 abc 2.3 abc 2.9 a 2.3 abc 2.8 ab 1.6 c 2.0 abc 1.9 abc 2.3 abc 1.8 bc 2.3 abc Strawberry flavor 3.9 a 3.7 ab 4.1 a 2.8 b 2.8 b 3.1 ab 4.1 a 4.2 a 3.2 ab 3.8 ab 3.8 ab 3.6 ab Green flavor 2.7 ab 2.8 a 2.3 abc 2.6 ab 2.3 abc 2.7 ab 1.8 bcd 2.0 abcd 2.4 abc 1.6 cd 1.1 d 2.0 abcd Overripe 0.7 bc 0.3 c 0.2 c 0.2 c 1.8 a 0.3 c 0.4 bc 0.3 c 0.4 bc 0.6 bc 0.9 abc 1.3 ab Woody/musty 0.7 a 0.9 a 0.6 a 0.5 a 1.0 a 0.8 a 0.2 a 0.3 a 0.6 a 0.8 a 0.8 a 1.0 a Festival Rosa Linda Means followed by the same letter within a row were not significantly different by the Least Significant Difference (LSD), a = 0.05. 2 January (F1 and F2: 69.8 %) Sourness F2 (22.1 %) 0 Rosa Linda Carmine Earlibrite Astringent Strawberry Green Sweetness Woody/musty Rubygem Graininess Overripe Festival Firmness 05-107 05-85 -2-4 -2 0 2 4 F1 (47.7 %) Fig. 1. Principal components analysis plot of sensory descriptors for University of Florida strawberry cultivars and selections tested in Jan. 2010. Principal components 1 (F1) and 2 (F2) account for 47.7% and 22.1% of the variation, respectively. first principal component (F1) explained 47.7% of the variation, and was mostly defined by firmness (positive side) and overripe (negative side) descriptors. Principal component 2 (F2) explained 22.1% of the variation and was defined mostly by sourness on the positive side, and also overripe on the negative side (Fig. 1). Selection 05-85 had the highest firmness rating, and also rated high for surface graininess (Fig. 1). and 05-107 also had high ratings for surface graininess and firmness, and they had the lowest sourness ratings; this explains their position in the PCA biplot (Fig. 1). Strawberry Festival, Earlibrite, and 292 Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 123: 2010.

Table 4. Pearsons correlations among sensory variables and between sensory and instrumental variables. Numbers in bold characters indicate significant difference at level alpha = 0.05. Variables S. mouthfeel Firmness Sweetness Sourness Astringent Strawberry Green Overripe Woody/musty SSC ph TA SSC/TA January Surface mouthfeel 1 0.588 0.065-0.461-0.469-0.053 0.129-0.232 0.270 0.649 0.502-0.390 0.578 Firmness 1 0.419-0.440-0.695 0.463 0.367-0.754-0.152 0.684 0.658-0.685 0.727 Sweetness 1-0.160 0.014 0.844-0.265-0.241-0.336 0.439 0.453-0.659 0.602 Sourness 1 0.747 0.095 0.262 0.021-0.048-0.359-0.722 0.650-0.657 Astringent 1-0.019-0.280 0.364-0.045-0.283-0.430 0.377-0.424 Strawberry flavor 1-0.149-0.304-0.253 0.187 0.145-0.414 0.313 Green flavor 1-0.684-0.275 0.304-0.132 0.220-0.067 Overripe 1 0.454-0.649-0.396 0.406-0.462 Woody/musty 1-0.279-0.066 0.157-0.162 SSC 1 0.727-0.697 0.853 ph 1-0.943 0.934 TA 1-0.956 SSC/TA 1 February Surface mouthfeel 1 0.118-0.195 0.572 0.671-0.097 0.135 0.338 0.347-0.025-0.425 0.606-0.377 Firmness 1 0.476-0.406-0.234 0.248 0.246-0.214 0.049 0.418 0.414-0.212 0.399 Sweetness 1-0.646-0.327 0.876-0.486 0.169 0.326 0.810 0.734-0.628 0.823 Sourness 1 0.788-0.404 0.162 0.177 0.138-0.498-0.903 0.896-0.820 Astringent 1-0.080 0.002 0.296 0.287-0.344-0.588 0.693-0.621 Strawberry flavor 1-0.490 0.148 0.420 0.674 0.559-0.379 0.566 Green flavor 1-0.467-0.301-0.353-0.203 0.182-0.290 Overripe 1 0.697 0.025-0.286 0.176-0.078 Woody/musty 1 0.037-0.106 0.132-0.070 SSC 1 0.597-0.427 0.839 ph 1-0.907 0.877 TA 1-0.838 SSC/TA 1 March Surface mouthfeel 1 0.311-0.674 0.771 0.555-0.280 0.387-0.283-0.237-0.471-0.445 0.465-0.476 Firmness 1 0.099 0.028 0.092 0.186 0.297-0.701-0.743 0.058 0.320-0.391 0.360 Sweetness 1-0.803-0.784 0.514-0.329-0.138-0.076 0.457 0.611-0.595 0.600 Sourness 1 0.642-0.166 0.415-0.048 0.067-0.677-0.609 0.677-0.740 Astringent 1-0.592 0.477-0.099 0.218-0.643-0.436 0.282-0.470 Strawberry flavor 1-0.386-0.299-0.369 0.370 0.160-0.052 0.208 Green flavor 1-0.307 0.028-0.296 0.077-0.119 0.028 Overripe 1 0.610-0.181-0.188 0.241-0.258 Woody/musty 1-0.524-0.203 0.201-0.387 SSC 1 0.440-0.439 0.735 ph 1-0.942 0.874 TA 1-0.916 SSC/TA 1 Means followed by the same letter within a row were not significantly different by the Least Significant Difference (LSD), a = 0.05. were on the upper positive side of the biplot, explaining a balance of sweetness, strawberry flavor, green flavor, and firmness. As seen from results in Table 3, Carmine and Rosa Linda had high sourness ratings, as well as astringency. and had high overripe ratings, with low strawberry flavor and sweetness (Fig. 1 and Table 3). Sweetness and strawberry flavor were correlated with each other; so were sourness and astringency, but these two groups were not correlated (Table 4 and Fig. 1). Correlations between descriptors that are found in association in products, such as sweet and fruity, are well known (Pfeiffer et al., 2006). The correlation between sourness and astringency may be explained by high levels of citric acid, perceived as both sour and astringent (Corrigan Thomas and Lawless, 1995). It is to be noted that the January data may not be representative of a typical behavior of strawberry selections because the weather was abnormally cold in 2010, with night freezing temperatures from 3 to 13 Jan., and 1 inch of rain right before harvest. Nevertheless, the data provide information on strawberry quality when plants were subjected to climatic stress. February harvest. Florida Elyana and Strawberry Festival had the highest sweetness and strawberry flavor ratings, with fairly high firmness (Table 3 and Fig. 2). Selection 05-85 also had high strawberry flavor (Table 3). As in January, selections 05-107 and 05-85 had high firmness and lowest sourness, together with (Table 3, Fig. 2). Carmine and Rosa Linda had high sourness/astringent ratings; however, had the highest sourness and lowest sweetness ratings (Table 3, Fig. 2). Winter Dawn and 06-45 were defined by green flavor, and also as sour, for being in the lower right quadrant of the PCA biplot (Fig. 2). Florida Elyana had a high rating for overripe, which may be because the high sweetness and strawberry flavor together with lack of perception for sourness was perceived as overripe fruit by some panelists. The PCA biplot explained 66.3% of the total variation, with F1 (42.1%) defined as sourness, astringent and surface graininess on the positive side, and strawberry flavor, Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 123: 2010. 293

2 Elyana February (F1 and F2: 66.32 %) Overripe Strawberry F2 (24.2 %) 1 0 Sweetness Festival Firmness 05-107 Astringent Rosa Linda Woody/musty Graininess Carmine Sweet Charlie Sourness -1 05-85 Green 06-45 -2-3 -2-1 0 1 2 3 4 F1 (42.1 %) Fig. 2. Principal components analysis plot of sensory descriptors for University of Florida strawberry cultivars and selections tested in Feb. 2010. Principal components 1 (F1) and 2 (F2) account for 42.1% and 24.2% of the variation, respectively. sweetness and firmness on the negative side (Fig. 2). F2 (24.2%) was defined as overripe, strawberry flavor and sweetness on the positive side, and green on the negative side. March harvest. Florida Elyana,, 05-107, Strawberry Festival and Florida had high ratings for firmness, sweetness and strawberry flavor (Table 3 and Fig. 3). Sweet Charlie also had high sweetness, but low firmness and sourness (Table 3). Carmine and 06-45 had high ratings for sourness/astringent and surface graininess. and Winter Dawn were predominantly overripe and woody, with low firmness (Table 3 and Fig. 3); in addition, had low sweetness and strawberry flavor ratings (Table 3). The PCA biplot was defined with F1 (45.7% of the variation) as sourness, astringent, surface graininess and green flavor on the positive side, and sweetness and strawberry flavor on the negative side, and F2 (29.2% of the variation) as firmness in the positive side, and overripe and woody/musty on the negative side. Instrumental measurements. SSC ranged from 5 to 12 Brix, ph from 3.4 to 4.1 and TA from 0.5% to 1.1% citric acid, with higher SSC values in February than January or March, and TA values lower in March than the first 2 months (data not shown). Samples with high SSC were Elyana (11.5 7.5 Brix), Sweet 3 March (F1 and F2: 74.9 %) Firmness 2 Elyana F2 (29.2 %) 1 0 Sweetness Strawberry 05-107 Festival Green Earlibrite 06-45 Carmine Graininess Astringent Woody/musty Sourness -1 Sweet Charlie Overripe -2-3 -2-1 0 1 2 3 4 F1 (45.7 %) Fig. 3. Principal components analysis plot of sensory descriptors for University of Florida strawberry cultivars and selections tested in Mar. 2010. Principal components 1 (F1) and 2 (F2) account for 45.7% and 29.2% of the variation, respectively. 294 Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 123: 2010.

Charlie (9.8 7.3 Brix), (9.6 6.7 Brix) and 06-38 (10.6 6.4 Brix), and low SSC were (7.3 6.2 Brix), (7.8 5.3 Brix) and (8.2 5.6 Brix). There was a sharp decrease in overall SSC in March, which has been observed when temperatures increase (MacKenzie and Chandler, 2009). Samples with highest ph were 05-107 (3.9 4.0) and (3.8 3.9), whereas (3.6 3.7) and Winter Dawn (3.5 3.7) had lower ph. Likewise, the same samples had low and high TA, respectively. In all three taste panels, TA and SSC/TA were correlated with sweetness and sourness: SSC/TA positively correlated with sweetness and negatively correlated with sourness, with TA having the opposite correlations with the same descriptors (Table 4). In January, ph was also negatively correlated with sourness and woody/musty. In February, correlations were higher, and SSC, ph and SSC/TA explained sweetness and strawberry flavor, and TA explained sourness, while TA was negatively correlated with sweetness and SSC/TA negatively correlated with sourness and astringent (Table 4). In March, ph and SSC/TA were positively correlated with sweetness and SSC, ph and SSC/TA negatively correlated with sourness. TA was positively correlated with sourness and negatively correlated with sweetness. Overall, this study confirmed high eating quality of Florida Elyana with high strawberry flavor, sweetness and low sourness, and also of Strawberry Festival, Florida and Florida Belle, that also had high firmness. It also confirmed that Sweet Charlie has good eating qualities but tends to lack firmness. There were seasonal and/or ripening effects for Earlibrite and Rubygem, which had good eating quality in January, and Sweet Charlie, which was good in March. Overall, and Winter Dawn were of poor quality, either overripe and woody/musty (in January and March), or under-ripe and too sour (in February). Carmine and Rosa Linda had consistent high sourness ratings. Among the new selections, 05-107 and were of good eating quality, with high sweetness and strawberry flavor, and 05-107 was always rated with high firmness, along with 05-85. Literature Cited Chandler, C.K., C.M. Howard, and E.E. Albregts. 1988. Breeding strawberries for Florida: Accomplishments and goals. Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 101:380 382. Corrigan Thomas, C.J. and H.T. Lawless. 1995. Astringent subqualities in acids. Chem. Senses 20:593 600. Jouquand, C., A. Plotto, K.L. Goodner, and C.K. Chandler. 2008. A sensory and chemical analysis of fresh strawberries over harvest dates and seasons reveals factors that affect eating quality. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 133:859 867. MacKenzie, S.J. and C.K. Chandler. 2009. The late season decline in fruit soluble solids content observed in Florida is caused by rising temperatures. Acta Hort. (ISHS) 842:843 846. National Agricultural Statistics Service. 2009. Monthly U.S. strawberry shipments, by source, 1980 2007. <http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/ usda/ers/95003/table07.xls>. Pfeiffer, J., J. Hort, T.A. Hollowood and A.J. Taylor. 2006 Taste aroma interactions in a ternary system: A model of fruitiness perception in sucrose/acid solutions. Perception and Psychophysics 68:216 227. Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 123: 2010. 295