Strawberry Desiccation and Gloss in Refrigerated Storage Depend on the Interaction between Cultivar and Time after Harvest

The objectives of this study were to characterize strawberry cultivars grown under two production systems for gloss at harvest as a proxy for freshness and assess cultivar differences regarding the loss of gloss and changes in desiccation scores during refrigerated postharvest storage. Nine strawberry cultivars were grown in an annual plasticulture system for 3 years, harvested twice weekly, and packaged for refrigerated storage. Four of these cultivars also were grown in a low tunnel production system and harvested, packaged, and evaluated similarly. In both cases, berry gloss was measured at harvest and again after 1 and 2 weeks of refrigerated storage. Subjective desiccation scores were assigned to the berries during refrigerated storage. For both traits, effects were primarily determined by the interaction between the cultivar and time of measurement relative to harvest. For either gloss or desiccation, there was no evidence of differences in cultivar rankings based on the production system or packaging event. Cordial and Sweet Charlie were among cultivars that did not show loss of gloss or changes in desiccation scores during storage; therefore, they would not be good choices for studies that test alternative postharvest storage protocols. Keepsake and USDA Lumina were among the glossiest cultivars and those with the highest gloss levels and desiccation scores after both 1 week and 2 weeks of refrigerated storage. The variability of these traits among cultivars indicate that improvement can be made when developing new cultivars.