Antioxidant Capacity and Flavonoid Content in Wild Strawberries

Fruit of the cultivated strawberry (Fragaria xananassa Duchesne ex Rozier) are a good source of natural antioxidants, which play an important role in protecting human health. Antioxidant levels vary considerably among strawberry genotypes. The cultivated strawberry is a hybrid of two very different wild progenitor species: F. virginiana Mill. and F. chiloensis (L.) Mill. The progenitor species are valued by strawberry breeders as sources of novel traits, but have not been evaluated for antioxidant capacity or levels of antioxidant compounds. The objectives of this study are 1) to evaluate the antioxidant contents and antioxidant activities in representatives of F. virginiana and F. chiloensis in comparison with representatives of the cultivated strawberry species (F. xananassa), 2) to determine which strawberry compounds are most closely correlated with antioxidant capacity among these three species, and 3) to identify wild strawberry genotypes with high antioxidant activity and bioactive compounds for use in cultivar development. Fruit of 19 accessions from each of the three species, cultivated strawberry plus the two progenitor species (F. xananassa, F. virginiana, and F. chiloensis), were evaluated for levels of antioxidant capacity (oxygen radical absorbance capacity), total phenolics, total anthocyanins, ellagic acid, quercetin 3-glucoside plus quercetin 3-glucuronide, kaempferol 3-glucoside, kaempferol 3-rutinoside, p-coumaryl-glucose, pelargonidin 3-glucoside, pelargonidin 3-glucoside-succinate, cyanidin 3-glucoside, and cyanidin 3-glucoside-succinate. Fruit of the 13 accessions tested from the wild progenitor species F. virginiana had significantly higher antioxidant capacity, total phenolics, and total anthocyanins than did the fruit of three accessions tested from the cultivated strawberry F. xananassa, or the three accessions tested from the other wild progenitor species (F. chiloensis), and will be valuable as a source of parent material for developing more nutritious strawberry cultivars. The high correlation with antioxidant capacity, relative efficiency, and lack of genotype-by-year interaction in this study suggests that the measurement of total phenolics may be the better assay to use for the later selection stages in a strawberry cultivar development program. Of the evaluated F. virginiana accessions, NC 95-19-1, JP 95-1-1, CFRA 0982, NC 96-5-3, and RH 30 fruit were highest in antioxidant capacity and should prove useful toward development of strawberry cultivars with high antioxidant capacities.