Influence of Mineral Nutrients on Strawberry Fruit Quality and Their Accumulation in Plant Organs: A Review

This review is based partly on complete articles and partly on abstracts. Three of the 60 articles deal with the total uptake of elements in strawberry plant organs in two different strawberry production systems, both considered as optimal concerning amount and balance of elements. The effect on fruit quality may be dramatic if the level of a particular element is outside this range, but there may also be effects initiated by differences within the optimal range of elements. Most articles refer to product oriented quality, but some focus on consumer oriented quality, as discussed by Shewfelt (1999). The discussion here is on a general basis, so one should keep in mind that there are cultivar differences and that specification of nutrition ideally should mirror the needs of a single cultivar, or a group of cultivars with similar requirements. Also, to get a complete understanding of the subject future reviews should embrace a broader access of information including the effect on plant development of individual elements, such as the role of calcium in fruit firmness and its importance in cell wall structure. However, the intention here is to narrow the information to results that suggest a direct connection between nutrient uptake and fruit quality. (C) 2005 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.