**Author details**

*Strawberry - Pre- and Post-Harvest Management Techniques for Higher Fruit Quality*

of germinating ascospores and colonies [100].

**6. Conclusion**

and lower surfaces of strawberry leaves and reduced the number of germinating powdery mildew (*Podosphaera aphanis*) ascospores and colonies. Moreover, potassium carbonate alone or mixed with Omex SW7 significantly reduced the number

Several reports confirm significant (35–50%) loss of horticultural produce after harvest. In strawberry, preharvest management is a prerequisite for producing good quality fruit. Fruit quality and nutrient content of strawberries varies widely depending on the variety and environmental factors. Berry fruits are extremely perishable and have a short market life. Because strawberry quality cannot be improved after harvest, the role of preharvest factors must be understood in order to improve the shelf life. Results indicate that the effect of genotype on strawberry fruit and nutritional quality is stronger than that of growing conditions and cultivars could be selected for maximum adaptability to the environmental conditions and market demand. Environmental conditions seem to have a major influence on nutritional and flavor compounds in strawberries. Preharvest conditions such as light intensity can affect strawberry fruit quality and phytonutrient content. The color of plastic mulches frequently used on raised beds also affects fruit quality. Plant growth and development is largely affected by temperature, which affects cellular compounds and their structure and fruit firmness. Changes in the composition of atmospheric CO2 and ozone constituents due to climate change may also affect fruit quality. Soil types, fertilization, composts, and mulching influence the water and nutrient supply to the plant and can affect the nutritional composition, ascorbic acid content, and antioxidant activity of harvested fruit. The use of alternative substrates (soilless culture) is a common cultural method in strawberries, especially in protected environments that has been shown to improve fruit yield and quality. Nitrogen and Ca are among the most critical elements for improving strawberry yield and quality. Strawberry plants need frequent irrigation

due to a shallow root system, large leaf area, and fruits with high water content.

quality between fruits per harvest and from harvest to harvest.

growing conditions, other factors should be closely monitored.

Cultural practices affect strawberry metabolites significantly. Higher phenolic content has been reported in fruit from strawberry plants grown on plasticulture than in those grown in matted row culture. Also, there is a large variation in flavor

Some of these environmental factors can be optimized in open fields according to the light and temperature conditions, such as planting date, mulch color and fertilization, although, their interactions may be hard to control. Other environmental factors can only be manipulated under protected cultivation. In general, to obtain reliable data on fruit and nutritional quality, when there is such a larger variation in

**14**

Toktam Taghavi\*, Rafat Siddiqui and Laban K. Rutto College of Agriculture, Virginia State University, Petersburg, VA, USA

\*Address all correspondence to: ttaghavi@vsu.edu

© 2019 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
