Study seeks to improve the quality of commercial strawberries in Chile

The Chilean strawberry stands out for its benefits such as flavor, texture and juiciness. Scientific research from the University of Talca seeks to use its genes to improve other varieties of commercial strawberries, as well as other non-climacteric fruits. Alejandra Moya León, academic at the Institute of Biological Sciences of the University of Talca and director of the project, explained that this fruit has certain characteristics that make it stand out. “The Fragaria Chiloensis, which is the typical white strawberry that is more or less known in the Concepción area and is the mother of the commercial strawberry, so we are surveying it to obtain genes that could be interesting to transfer,” Moya explained. The academic explained that there is a plant hormone called Abscisic Acid (ABA) that induces a series of molecular events in the strawberry, "these ultimately cause, on the one hand, the advancement in color and softening of the strawberry." This knowledge allows technologies ...