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Strawberry (F. × ananassa)—Morphology, Taxonomy, Composition and Health

Benefits

Chapter · June 2021

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-75502-7_17

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Chapter 17
Strawberry (F. × ananassa)—
Morphology, Taxonomy, Composition
and Health Benefits

Abstract Peaches, a fruit of family Rosaceace and genus prunus, are generally
preferred due to their exotic taste and vibrant colour. However, the fruit is low in
nutrients. Vitamin A and its precursors such as carotenoids, β-carotene (primarily),
α-carotene and β-cryptoxanthin are found in abundance in peaches but it is low in
proteins and fat. However, it contains substantial amount of fibre, vitamin C and E.
Peaches are reserve for various medicinally important compounds, primarily antioxi-
dants, polyphenolics and carotenoids and thus its consumption have positive implica-
tions on health. Various therapeutic effects have also been reported with peach intake
such as cardio-vascular effects, chemo-preventive effects, maintaining ophthalmic
health and anti-diabetic activity.

Order: Rosales
Family: Rosaceae
Genus: Fragaria
Sub-genus: F. × ananassa
Local name: Strawberry

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 219
S. Z. Hussain et al., Fruits Grown in Highland Regions of the Himalayas,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-75502-7_17
220 17 Strawberry (F. × Ananassa)—Morphology, Taxonomy …

1 Origin and Habitat

Strawberry (Fragaria × ananasa) was recognized as the best fruit ever produced
in the world by Early Romans. The fruit represented the goddess of love—Venus
due to its heart shaped and colour. The history of strawberry can be traced back to
temperate regions of northern hemisphere Mediterranean region. Strawberries grow
throughout the temperate regions of the world from North America to entire Europe.
The garden strawberry or Fragaria x ananasia is actually a cross represented by
‘×’ between two wild varieties—Fragaria Virgineania and Fragaria chiloensis, a
native of America and chile, respectively (Finn et al., 2013). However, strawberry
population is best suited in hilly area at an elevation of 750–1500 m above sea
level. Sub-tropical climatic conditions are ideal for growing strawberries but can
survive well in temperate conditions too. Strawberries require warm climate and low
humidity. The day temperatures of 22 –25 °C and night temperatures of 7–13 °C are
ideal for successful production of strawberry fruit. Furthermore, strawberries require
an annual rainfall of 150 mm and prefer soil rich in humus, slightly acidic (pH 5–
6.5), sandy loam or light soil with slight acidic nature and good drainage are prime
requisite for planting strawberry crops. Soil below 300 mm from surface should be
free of heavy clay and rocks as heavy clay soils action water after rains increasing
the risk of diseases and reduce yields (Sharma, 2002). Wild strawberries can grow
in a wide variety of habitat from open woodlands and meadows to sand dunes and
beaches (Wilson et al., 1973).

2 Morphological Characteristics

Strawberry is a member of family Rosaceae and genus Fragaria. Botanically, straw-

berry is not a berry and grows on perennial woody plant. Strawberry tree (Arbutus
unedo) is an herbaceous evergreen shrub that grows along the ground and consists
of fibrous rod system and a crown from which basal leaves arise. Arbutus unedo
is slow grossing and attains a height of 6 m with a trunk diameter of 80 cm. The
leaves are present in clusters, generally 3 in number, oval in shape, tooth edged and
hairy. The leaves are glossy, smooth and dark green in colour on upper side and
light green with small whitish hair on lower side. The plant bears flowers in clusters.
The strawberry flower has small green leaf like 5 sepals which enclose white petals.
The hermaphrodite flowers are whitish in appearance, bell shaped, 4–6 mm across
and are present at the axils of the leaves. As the plant matures and becomes old, the
rest system changes to woody and the mother crown put forth runners that touch the
ground and spread, thus increasing the vegetation of plant. The plant shed the leaves
when old (Sharma & Thakur, 2008).
The fruit is 5–10 cm in length, 2–3 cm broad with serrated margins. Strawberry
fruit is bright red in colour and is heart shaped with rough surface and 1–2 cm in
diameter. Strawberry is not a true berry and is known as accessory fruit. Botanically,
2 Morphological Characteristics 221

Fig. 1 Strawberry shrub

the red heart shaped fruit is an enlarged flower system with many seeds embedded
onto the surface. These yellow seeds are actually the true fruit known as achenes. A
medium sized strawberry contains about 200 achenes. The noteworthy thing about
strawberries is that the offspring doesn’t retain any horticultural characteristics of
parent strawberry. The main flesh of strawberry, known by the name cortex, is juicy,
reddish white in colour and acidic in nature (Mitra, 1991) (Figs. 1 and 2).

3 Consumption, Production and Taxonomy

For the year 2016–17, nine metric tonnes of strawberries are produced from thousand
hectares of land that is under strawberry cultivation. USA tops the chart of strawberry
production and shares 30.2% of the total global strawberry produce (Sharma et al.,
2009). Besides USA, Turkey, Span and Egypt are low leading producers of straw-
berry. In India, strawberry is cultivated in HP, UP, Maharashtra, WB, Delhi, Haryana,
Punjab, Mizoram, Meghalaya and Rajasthan. Sub-tropical area of country produces
non-significant amount of strawberries (Shamra et al., 2009). India produced 4.61
thousand tonnes of strawberry in the year 2016–17 (National Horticulture Board).
The state of Jammu Kashmir is one of the leading producers of strawberries with
174 hectares of area under its cultivation producing 388 metric tonnes of the fruit in
the year 2016–17 (Fig. 3).
222 17 Strawberry (F. × Ananassa)—Morphology, Taxonomy …

Fig. 2 Strawberry

Strawberry ProducƟon of top most states (metric tonnes)

0.05 0.05
0.08
0.14

0.85

1.08 3.11

UƩarakhand Punjab Himachal Pradesh Jammu & Kashmir

Haryana Nagaland Tamil Nadu Sikkim

Fig. 3 Production Senario of Strawberries in India during 2017–18 (Source National Horticulture
Board)

Strawberries are cultivated commercially both for fresh consumption and

processing. Because of its highly perishable nature, strawberries are frozen or canned,
dried into slices. A juice or concentrate from fruit is also produced. Besides these,
strawberries are used in various such as cereal bars, bakery and confectionary prepa-
rations (Klopotek et al., 2005). 75% of the total amount of strawberries is taken
3 Consumption, Production and Taxonomy 223

as fresh while the remainder is frozen. A meagre amount is used for juice making.
Strawberry or strawberry flavourings are a common and popular addition to dairy
products such as flavoured milk, ice-cream, smoothies, milkshakes and yoghurts
(Shamra et al., 2009).
The native cultivars of strawberry are Fragaria Virginiana and Fragaria
chiloensis. However, modern strawberry cultivars are classified into three different
types; june, ever and day neutral bearing cultivars. June bearing cultivar produces
their entire fruit in over a period of 2–3 weeks, early summer from late June to early
July, thus the name ever bearing cultivar. In September, the plant strictly developing
buds that remain dormant throughout the winter and bear flowers when the tempera-
ture is right. June bearing strawberries are ground runners i.e. have stems that grow
along the ground and produce roots. Thus, the plant occurs as matted rows with a
typical width of 24 inch (Anderson & Thuesen, 1988). All stars are the common
and popular cultivar of june bearing strawberry. The quantity of the fruit produced
in fall is much less than what is produced in spring. Day neutral cultivar produces
fruit irrespective of the length of day and night. Fruit growth and development only
depends on the temperature, such varieties need to grow over a temperature range of
5–30 °C. Unlike june bearing, day neutral cultivar produces fruit from the first year
of its plantation (Finn et al., 2013).

4 Nutritional Composition

Strawberries are sodium free, fat free, cholesterol free and low-calorie food packed
with vitamins, fibre and polyphenols. People generally relish strawberry as a desert
fruit. The strawberry shortcake is a traditional American desert (Giampieri et al.,
2015) (Table 1).
• Carbohydrates
Fresh strawberries are high in water which means that the fruit is a low source
of carbohydrates. The total carbohydrate content of fruit is 7.68 g/100 g of fruit
weight. Most of the carbohydrates is in the form of simple sugars—glucose, fructose
and sucrose with fructose being the predominant. The total sugar content of fruit is
4.89 g/1Wg. The net digestive carbohydrate content of fruit is less than 6 g for every
100 g and the GI source is 40 which are selectively low (Shamra et al., 2009).
• Protein
Strawberries contain a meagre amount of protein 10.67 g/100 g and are also
devoid of some essential amino acids like methionine. Moreover, the protein quality
of accessory fruit is poor. Amino acids like cysteine, tryptophan and isoleucine are
present as traces. However, glutamic acid is relatively a predominant amino acid in
strawberries (Basu et al., 2013) (Table 2).
• Fibre
224 17 Strawberry (F. × Ananassa)—Morphology, Taxonomy …

Table 1 Chemical
Components g/100 g
composition of strawberry
Water (g) 89.97
Energy (kcal) 35
Protein (g) 0.43
Total fat (g) 0.11
Carbohydrate (g) 9.13
Fibre (g) 2.1
Calcium (Ca) (mg) 16
Iron (mg) 0.75
Magnesium (mg) 11
Phosphorus (mg) 13
Potassium (mg) 148
Copper (mg) 0.05
Vitamin C (mg) 41.2
Vitamin E (mg) 0.30
Niacin (mg) 0.46
Source National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference
Service Release 22 Agricultural Research Services, Unites States
Department of Agriculture, 2009

Table 2 Amino acid

Amino acid g/100 g
composition of strawberry
Alanine 0.05
Arginine 0.04
Aspartic acid 0.21
Cysteine 0.01
Glutamic acid 0.14
Glycine 0.04
Histidine 0.02
Isoleucine 0.02
Leucine 0.05
Lysine 0.04
Phenylalanine 0.03
Proline 0.03
Serine 0.04
Threonine 0.03
Tryptophan 0.01
Tyrosine 0.03
Valine 0.03
Source Nutritiondata.com
4 Nutritional Composition 225

The fibre content of fruit is around 2 g/1 g which account for 26% of the total
carbohydrate content. The fibre from strawberries has a daily value (DV) of 10%.
The ratio of soluble to insoluble fibre is 0.28 (Skupien & Oszmianski, 2004).
• Lipids
Like all other fruits, strawberry fruit is a low fat food with a total fat content of
0.29 g. Moreover, the little fat present is in the form of polyunsaturated DV (%). The
predominant fatty acid in strawberries is linoleic acid (omega-6) with a DV of 4%
(Giampieri et al., 2012).
• Minerals
The total mineral content of fruit is 0.49 g/1Wg. Like other fruits, strawber-
ries are a rich source of potassium, phosphorous, magnesium, calcium and chloride
(Giampieri, et al., 2015). Besides these, the fruit also contains selenium, boron and
iodine. Despite manganese element being present in limited amount in strawberry,
its DV is highest (24).
• Vitamins
Strawberries are an abundant source of vitamin C. The ascorbic acid content of
fruit is approx. 84.67 mg/100 g with the highest DV (113%) among all the micro
as well as macro nutrients. Besides these, other water-soluble vitamins like choline,
folate are also provided by strawberries. Furthermore, strawberries are relatively a
poor source of fat-soluble vitamins and contain vitamin K and E in insignificant
amounts. Strawberry is the dense source of important vitamin folate, an important
element in maintaining health and treatment of ailments (Tulipani et al., 2008).
• Organic acids
The major organic acid in strawberry is citric acid (420 mg/100 g) followed by
malic (90 mg/100 g) and ascorbic acid (26 mg/100 g). Other organic acids such as
tartaric, succinic and pyruvic acid are also present in least amounts. Organic acids
contribute to the characteristic taste and tartness of the fruit (Sharma et al., 2009).
• Phytonutrients
More than 25 anthocyanidins are present in strawberries. Pelargonidin, the main
anthocyanin in strawberry is responsible for its colour. Ellagitannins and ellagic
acid is found in high amounts in strawberries. Pelargonidin and procyanidins are the
main anthocyanins in strawberry. Strawberries are ranked as top sources of phenolics
and have 2–10 times higher phenolic content than other fruits. Ellagitannins are the
second most abundant class of phytochemicals in strawberries. The main ellagitannin
in strawberries is sanjin, followed by flavonols (i.e. quercetin and kaempferol-3-
malonylglucoside), flavanols (i.e. catechins and procyanidins) and phenolic acids
(i.e. caffeic and hydroxybenzoic derivates) (Giampieri et al., 2012) (Fig. 4).
226 17 Strawberry (F. × Ananassa)—Morphology, Taxonomy …

Fig. 4 Chemical Structure

of Ellagic acid (Source
Giampieri et al., 2012)

Ellagic acid

5 Health Benefits

• Cardiovascular Diseases (CVDs)

CVD is the major cause of death worldwide (Rosamond et al., 2008). Studies
have revealed that consumption of strawberries improves cardiovascular health and
decreased risk of heart-related deaths. Anthocyanins from strawberries work against
CVD development. This effect of anthocyanins is due to the number and position
of OH groups, its chemical structure i.e. conjugated groups, the degree of glycosy-
lation and the presence of donor electron in the ring structure. In vitro studies have
reported that berries consumption causes an elevation in levels of HDL cholesterol
and reduction in blood pressure while improving the functioning of blood platelets
(Tulipani et al., 2011).
Anthocyanins from strawberry improve blood antioxidant status and elevate
oxidative stress by inhibiting inflammation. Furthermore, intake of strawberries also
leads to improved vascular function and blood lipid profile while under the oxidation
of LDL cholesterol. In a study, supplementation of freeze dried strawberry to CVD
patients resulted in reduction in LDL cholesterol, inflammatory markers (C-reactive
protein) and oxidized LDL particles—the few risk factors associated with CVD.
Anthocyanins help relax blood vessels by improving the flow of blood. Moreover,
the fibre along with vitamin C and folate from strawberry reduce cholesterol levels
in arteries and vessels (Chaudhuri et al., 2007).
Strawberry causes decline in rate of lipid peroxidation in our blood vessel
linings and malondialdehyde formation. Strawberry enhances the activity of paraox-
onase enzyme-1 (PON-1). The enzyme catalyzes the breakdown of lipid peroxides
(LOOH). Excessive levels of LOOH increases the risk of blood vessel damage as a
result of highly reactive nature of LOOH (Gils et al., 2009).
• Blood Sugar Regulation
Disparity in blood sugar is caused by foods high in sugar which in turn leads to
obesity, type II diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Increase in blood sugar levels
5 Health Benefits 227

causes high insulin secretion which results in more uptake of sugar by cells. Straw-
berry consumption slows down glucose absorption and inhibits release of insulin
following a carbohydrate rich meal (Kurotobi et al., 2010).
Strawberry consumption causes an upsurge in release of incretin hormone-
like GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide 1) and GIP (glucose-dependent insulinotropic
polypeptide) and modification in the activity of carbohydrate splitting enzymes like
α-glucosidase and α-amylase. Intake of strawberries causes increased synthesis of
gene, insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), a peptide (protein based) hormone which
is involved in growth and tissue building.
• Cancer prevention
Cancer is the uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells and oxidative stress often
hastens the process. Animal model studies have shown that administration of straw-
berry extract inhibited tumor formation in oral cancer cells and liver cancer cells.
Strawberry exerts chemopreventive effect through their ability to fight oxidative stress
and inflammation. The protective effect of strawberry is believed to be due to ellagic
acid and ellagitannins. Ellagic acid inhibits proliferation of tumor cells by inducing
apoptosis and cleaving of DNA bonded with carcinogens (Losso et al., 2004).
• Blood brain function
Strawberries are known to improve cognitive function because of its potassium
content as potassium increases the flow of blood to brain. Potassium has a role to play
in functioning of brain neurons. Moreover, flavonoids from strawberry too causes
reduced rates of cognitive decline. Flavonoids exert positive effect on brain function
through altering of cellular signalling pathways such as nitrogen activated protein-
kinase pathway (MAPK). Besides this, flavonoids mutate the transcription factor,
nuclear factor kappa-β (NF, KB), involved in signal transduction through inhibition
of protein kinase and promotes the synthesis of neurotropic factor (BDNF) which
is important for growth and survival of neuronal and synaptic cells (Mansuri et al.,
2014).

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