In recent years, interest in phenolic compounds has been increased due mainly to the numerous evidences of its beneficial health effects and their impact on food quality. Numerous efforts have been made in order to increase the knowledge about phenolic compounds, with an especial focus on characterization of new food sources rich in polyphenols. There has been studied the influence of different factors such as variety, pedoclimatic conditions, geographical origin, authenticity and traceability, among others on their contents, as a tool for enhancing nutritional and nutraceutical quality of plant derived foods in breeding programs.
The objective of the present study was to assess whether growth under controlled condition could be used for cultivation of strawberry to enhance bioactive polyphenols content. For this purpose, 54 samples of strawberries belonging to three varieties with different sensitivity to environmental conditions (Camarosa, Festival, Palomar) were grown in soilless system with different agronomic conditions (electrical conductivity, substrate type and coverage).
UHPLC-ESI-MS / MS analysis of polyphenolic compounds combined with chemometric methods revealed that benzoic acids, cinnamic acids, flavan-3-ol and antioxidant activity were significantly influenced (p <0.001) by coverage and variety. In addition, it was observed that the substrate has a significant effect on flavonols, whereas the variety affects the content of ellagic acid and its derivatives as well as in anthocyanins.