Yield and Quality of Spring-Planted, Day-Neutral Strawberries in a High Tunnel Kelly Gude, Sara Gragg, Cary Rivard, Eleni Pliakoni Great Plains Growers Conference, 217
Local Fruit Production in Kansas KC Food Hub Feasibility study found that of the 1 crops cited by interested growers: Berries, melons, and apples were the only fruit crops of future interest
Strawberry Production Formerly, a perennial plant Commercially grown as annual plants Anthesis to harvest (~3-4 days) Develop between 3-6 crowns (Wohletz Farm Fresh, 214) 1. June-bearing cultivars: 2. Modern day-neutrals cultivars: Insensitive to photoperiod, initiate buds under various day lengths Produce a significant June crop, initiated prior to winter dormancy Yield.75-1.25 lbs/plant (Rowley et al., 211)
Strawberries Grown in High Tunnel Production Growing season extension & enhanced crop productivity Increased yields, size, soluble solids, branch-crown development, vigor Early and late season prices High tunnels in Kansas Challenges growing in high tunnels Solutions Spring-planted day-neutral cultivars Evaporative Cooling Shade cloth
Research Questions 1. Is it feasible to grow spring-planted day-neutral cultivars in a high tunnel production system in Kansas? 2. Which cultivars perform optimally in a high tunnel production system in Kansas, regarding yield and marketability? 3. What is the quality of the cultivars that perform optimally in a high tunnel at-harvest and throughout storage? 4. What is the effect of the evaporative cooling on the yield and quality?
Materials and Methods Kansas State University Olathe Horticulture Research and Extension Center (OHREC) during 214 and 215 Three-season high tunnel (2 x 24 ) W 154 37 38 39 4 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 v 1. Albion 2. Evie 2 3. Monterey 4. Portola 5. San Andreas 6. Seascape 25 13 1 26 14 2 27 28 29 3 15 16 17 18 3 4 5 6 = With Evaporative Cooling 31 19 7 6 2 32 2 8 33 21 9 34 35 36 22 23 24 1 11 12 1 34 = No Evaporative Cooling
Materials and Methods 9-1% red mature fruit harvested 1-2x/week Separated based on marketability, counted and weighed fruit 1. Total Yield* Weight (lbs/plant) Size (oz./plant) Number (fruit/plant) 2. Marketable Yield Weight (lbs/plant) Size (oz./plant) Number (fruit/plant) 3. Marketability Weight (%) Size (%)
Total weight 214 (lbs) Materials and Methods 14 Early Season: 5/1/214 6/31/214 Mid Season: 7/1/214 8/14/214 Late Season: 8/15/214 1/6/214 12 1 8 6 4 2 Albion Evie 2 Monterey Portola San Andreas Seascape
Total weight 215 (lbs) Materials and Methods 14 Early Season: 5/31/215 6/31/215 Mid Season: 7/1/215 8/14/215 Late Season: 8/15/215 1/6/215 12 1 8 6 4 2 Albion Evie2 Monterey Portola SanAndreas Seascape
Materials and Methods Fruit harvest 1-2x/week and brought into the lab for at-harvest and postharvest quality analysis 4x in both 214 and 215 Sorted and stored at 3 C and 9-95% relative humidity Three replications with four fruit/rep. Nutritional Quality Total Phenolic content, and antioxidant capacity with FRAP and ORAC Physical Quality Texture, Firmness and Color (L* = lightness; a* = redness) Sensorial Quality Soluble Solids Content ( Brix) and Titratable Acidity Respiration Rate (mg CO 2 /kg-h) Moisture Loss (%) Overall Visual Quality (AUC)*
Results Strawberry Fruit Yield Six Day-Neutral Cultivars at OHREC in 214 and 215 Total Fruit Yield Marketability Weight (lbs/plant) Size (oz.) Weight (%) 214 Albion.85 bc.37 ab 88.6 a Evie 2 1.16 ab.31 cd 79.4 b Monterey.88 bc.34 bc 84.8 ab Portola 1.33 a.39 a 84.2 ab San Andreas.72 c.39 a 81.3 b Seascape 1.5 ab.29 d 84.2 ab F value 8.52 *** 14.18 *** 4.11 * Portola produced a significantly high yield in both 214 and R-square.537.62795.3285 Season Mean 215, in terms 1.of weight, size, and marketability.35 83.8 215 Albion.63 b.26 bc 82.5 ab Evie 2.82 ab.25 bc 76.5 b Monterey.67 b.26 bc 83.5 a Portola 1.12 a.31 a 82. ab San Andreas.62 b.28 ab 78.9 ab Seascape.72 b.22 c 79.2 ab F value 6.4 ** 8.39 *** 2.81 R-square.4324.49967.254 Season Mean.76.26 8.4
Results Total fruit yield by weight (lbs/plant) studied at early-, mid-, and late- season production throughout 214 and 215 Mid-season production was highest yielding weeks (by weight).9.8.7.6.5.4.3.2.1 A gh ij defghij fghij ghij j efghij h fghij ghij Albion Evie 2 Monterey Portola San Andreas 214 215.9 a.9.8.8 ab.7 bc bcd ab.7.6 bcde.6 Every cultivar besides cdefg San Andreas fell within desired.5 defghi.5 defghij defgh range.4.75-1.25lbs/plant efghij in 214 ghij fghij ghij.4 ghij.3 fghij.3.2 Portola and Evie 2 obtained desired yield results.2 in.1.1 215 Seascape B Albion Evie 2 Monterey Portola San Seascape Andreas 214 215 C bcdef efghij ghij fghij defghij hij j ghij Albion Evie 2 Monterey Portola San 214 215 Andreas ghij j Seascape Figure A- Early Season Figure B- Mid-Season Figure C Late Season
Size (oz/fruit) Size (oz/fruit) Size (oz/fruit) Results Total fruit size (oz./fruit) at early-, mid-, and late- season production throughout 214 and 215 Fruit size was largest in the early season.7.7.7.6.5.4.3.2.1 defg efg defgefg defg efg defg efg defg defg.6.6 defg.5 bcdef.5 Every efg cultivar cdefg produced desired fghij sizes.28 defgh.5 oz/fruit in efghi.4 cdefgh ghijkl fghijkl fghijkl.4 214 hijklm ghijklm hijklm jklmno.3 klmno.3 lmno nop op nop Portola and.2 San Andreas fell produced desired sizes.2.28.5 oz/fruit in 215.1.1 fghijkl ghijklm lmno mnop mnop p Albion Evie 2 Monterey Portola San 214 215 Andreas Seascape Albion Evie 2 Monterey Portola San 214 215 Andreas Seascape A B C Albion Evie 2 Monterey Portola San 214 215 Andreas Seascape Figure A- Early Season Figure B- Mid-Season Figure C Late Season
Results Marketability (%) studied at early-, mid-, and late- season production throughout 214 and 215 High marketability (%) both growing seasons 1 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 bcdef bcdef abcdef abcdef cdef def cdef cdef def cdef cdef cdef Albion Evie 2 Monterey Portola San 214 215 Andreas Seascape 1 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 abcdef abcdef abcdef ababcde abcdef abcabcde abcdef abcdef abcdef abcdef Albion Evie 2 Monterey Portola San 214 215 Andreas Seascape A B C 1 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 a abcdef ab abcdef abcdef abcdef abcdef abcdef abcdef f Albion Evie 2 Monterey Portola San 214 215 Andreas abcde ef Seascape Figure A- Early Season Figure B- Mid-Season Figure C Late Season
Results The antioxidant capacity of 6 day-neutral strawberry cultivars studied using ORAC (μm TE/1g FW), FRAP (μm TE/1g FW), and Total Phenolic method (GAE/kg-FW). Cultivar ORAC (μm TE/1g FW) FRAP (μm TE/1g FW) Total Phenolic (GAE/kg FW) Albion 3645.43 c 2112.92 a 228.27 ab Evie 2 4667.94 a 257.88 a 242.73 a Monterey 3799.74 All cultivars bc within the acceptable 2191.45 antioxidant a values 236.78 ab Portola 229.47 by ORAC d (154-6973 μm TE/1g 1742.38 FW), ab FRAP, and 146.95 c San Andreas 3665.22 Total Phenolic bc (171-218 GAE/kg-FW) 1743.22 a 219.8 ab Seascape 4339.5 ab 1758.49 a 215.77 b Means marked with the same letter do not differ at P.5. Student t-test procedure.
force (g) Results Effect of cultivar and weather on firmness (force (g)) of the of 6 day-neutral strawberry cultivars studied during storage. 7 6 5 Texture of San Andreas, 4 Monterey, Portola, and Albion fruit was significantly more firm than Seascape and Evie 2 3 2 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Storage Days Albion Evie 2 Monterey Portola San Andreas Seascape
(L*) Results Physical quality parameter of color index (L*) throughout storage 39 38 ** * 37 36 35 *** 34 Texture of San Andreas, Monterey, 33 Portola, and Albion fruit was significantly more firm than Seascape and Evie 2 32 31 3 29 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Storage Days Albion Evie 2 Monterey Portola San Andreas Seascape
Results Parameter means of soluble solids content (SSC), Titratable Acidity (%TA)* atharvest Cultivar SSC( Brix) Titratable Acidity SSC/%TA (%TA) Albion 7.77 a.934 ab 8.32 Evie 2 6.46 bc.877 bc 7.36 Monterey Albion and Monterey 7.65 a resulted in significantly.831 cd high SSC and 9.21 Portola general flavor 6.33 than c other cultivars.811 d 7.81 San Andreas 7.12 ab.842 cd 8.46 Seascape 7.19 a.927 a 7.76 Means marked with the same letter do not differ at P.5. Student t-test procedure.
Overall Visual Quality (1-5) Results Overall visual quality parameter (AUC) of 6 day-neutral cultivars throughout their storage life. 5 4.5 4 3.5 Overall Visual Quality of San 3 Andreas, Albion, Monterey, and Portola was significantly 2.5 higher than Seascape and Evie 2 2 1.5 1.5 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Storage Days Albion Evie2 Monterey Portola SanAndreas Seascape
Conclusion 1. Growing spring-planted day-neutral cultivars within the high tunnel system is feasible based on desired weight (lbs/plant) and berry size (oz/fruit) 2. Portola and Evie 2 were significant in total weight, size, and number in both 214 and 215 All studied cultivars produced high marketability (%) both production years with the exception of a low Evie 2 in 215 3. Identified 6 day-neutral cultivars that lasted 7-8 days throughout storage Based on the organoleptic and nutritional parameters: Fruit with the highest soluble solids content were the darkest and corresponded to those cultivars with the lowest L* and a* Albion and Monterey contain high levels of SSC and phytochemical properties Based on the physical quality and overall visual quality: Albion, Monterey, Portola, and San Andreas all performed significantly higher 4. Evaporative cooling requires further research to eliminate weather effect
Acknowledgements The faculty, staff, and fellow graduate students in the Department of Horticulture and Natural Resources at Kansas State University-Olathe Kansas State University s Olathe Horticulture Research and Extension Center and Sensory and Consumer Research Center (OHREC) Helena Cheibao with postharvest analysis, Kimberley Oxley with on-farm training, Dr. Marianne Swaney-Stueve with the Consumer Study at KSU, and Petros Xanthopoulos from the statistics department at the University of Florida Funding for 214 was provided by The National Strawberry Sustainability Initiative (NSSI) awarded to the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture Center who was in charge of distribution Olathe Horticulture Research and Extension Center staff, the Horticulture and Urban Food System s cohort, and partnering growers at Gieringer s Orchard and Wohletz Farm Fresh for preliminary studies.
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