ChileanJAR

Fragaria chiloensis (L.) Duch. the chilean strawberry, is one of the progenitors of the Fragaria x ananassa Duch. and wild accessions are still an important source of genetics resources for agronomic and physiological characteristics such as: size, flavor and fragrance of fruit; resistance to diseases and pests; high CO₂ assimilation rates, low transpiration and tolerance to salinity, drought and low teperatures. Seven accessions of F. chiloensis, six wild with red fruits and one cultivated with white fruits, colected in center and south Chile, were characterized at INIA's Cauquenes Experimental Center, in the 1994/1995 and 1995/1996 seasons. Vegetative, reproductive and phenological features were evaluated, and the potential use of each accession in future programs of genetic improvement was evaluated. Vegetative and reproductive features agreed with those determined previously by other authors in F. chiloensis. The accesions 2MAR-1A and 94BAU-1A had fruits with remarkable organoleptics characteristics, specially offragrance, flavor and sweetness. According to the cluster analysis, 2TAP-4B and 94BAU-1A were the most different ones, whereas 2TAP-4B and 2TAP-4C were the most similar accessions.