Vitamin C and fruit quality consensus in breeding elite European strawberry under multiple interactions of environment.

Background: Vitamin C is a life saving molecule. Vitamin C based breeding is need of the hour in order to provide humans an immunity boosting supplement in the form of fresh food.
Methods and Results: Multiple interactions of Anatolian Mediterranean environment were studied with cultivars ('Calinda', 'Rubygem', 'Sabrina', and 'Sahara') and fruit maturity stages. Genetic expression of six vitamin C related genes was estimated showing significantly higher expression in open field. Cultivar 'Calinda' performed better in organic acids but poor in firmness. Cultivar 'Sabrina' showed highest fruit firmness but lower commercially desired fruit quality characters. Cultivar 'Sahara' performed best for vitamin C and fruit redness, and was high in fruit size, weight, and organic acids. Chroma trends indicated simultaneous accumulation of vitamin C and anthocyanins in strawberry fruits. Transition stage of fruits was found most critical for metabolite regulation and sensitive to environmental changes. Fruits of cultivar 'Sahara' at 'Red' maturity stage expressed highest vitamin C levels (138.03 mg/100 g FW) whereas 'Turning' fruits of cultivar 'Sabrina' had lowest vitamin C content (27.80 mg/100 g FW). All studied vitamin C related genes indicate highest genetic expression for cultivar 'Sahara', except for genes FaVTC2 and FaMDHAR which exhibit highest genetic expression for cultivar 'Rubygem.'
Conclusion: Two-way and three-way interactions between cultivars, environments, and maturity stages were significant for vitamin C and fruit quality regulation under Mediterranean climate. This indicates an absolute requisite of studying combined influences in actual field, rather than single factor, controlled, or lab experiments. Correlation analysis showed that vitamin C content in a fruit is a complex subject and mainly depends on fruit color, size, and firmness. Principal Component Analysis validated that cultivar 'Sahara' is a promising candidate for vitamin C based breeding in strawberry.
(© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.)