Strawberries destined for industrial production: differences between countries and impact on produced nectar

Abstract Strawberry nectar attributes, particularly colour stability, are highly influenced by cultivar, harvest time, and fruit ripeness. Industrial processors, however, often have little control over these parameters, as they must continuously process strawberries of varying origin and maturity throughout the harvest season. This study investigated incoming strawberry batches received by processing facilities in Austria, Poland, and Spain. Prior to processing, strawberries were analysed for length, width, weight, firmness, drip loss, and anthocyanin content. Resulting nectars had their colour quantified using an Acceptance Factor (AF) to monitor degradation over 12 weeks of storage. While considerable variability was observed between batches within each country, Polish strawberries were in general softer with higher anthocyanin content, producing nectars with superior colour stability. Differences were attributed to cultivation practices: in Poland, strawberries are grown specifically for processing and allowed to ripen fully. Conversely, strawberries processed in Spain and Austria are typically fresh-market rejects, harvested at earlier stages. Colour stability was positively correlated with anthocyanin content and drip loss, and negatively with firmness. These findings highlight the strong influence of raw material quality on nectar colour stability and underscore the variability of industrial raw material, and the limited control processors have over strawberry quality.