Influence of Fertilization, Mulch Color, Early Forcing, Fruit Order, Planting Date, Shading, Growing Environment, and Genotype on the Contents of Selected Phenolics in Strawberry (Fragaria×ananassaDuch.) Fruits

Abstract

The influence of agricultural practices (fertilization, mulch color, early forcing, and planting date), environment (light and growing area), cultivar, and fruit order on the selected phenolic content and antioxidant activity in strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) fruits was studied. Three different levels of fertilization were given to plants in the fertilization experiment. The lowest fertilization level increased the contents of flavonols and ellagic acid from 19 to 57%. Between cultivars, up to 4-fold differences were found in the flavonol content, and it also varied according to growing environment. Planting date in glasshouse production was important for the phenolic content, and a statistically significant interaction was found between planting date and fruit order. Fruit order caused at highest 1.5−2.0-fold differences in the contents of phenolics. Interestingly, compared with other phenolics, anthocyanins were affected differently by many factors. Thus, the findings show that minor cultivation changes can increase the content of phenolics, especially in under-glass production where conditions can be easily manipulated. Keywords: Strawberry; Fragaria × ananassa Duch.; cultivation; cultivar; fertilization; phenolic compounds; flavonoids; ellagic acid; flavonols; anthocyanins