Phenotypic characterization of a strawberry ( Fragaria × ananassa Duchesne ex Rosier) diversity collection

Societal Impact statement To secure a stable, safe food supply, the future of humanity depends on the conservation and application of cultivated and wild plant diversity. Strawberries are globally important. They are widely produced and provide significant human health benefits. In 2019, annual world production was 14.5 MT (FAOSTAT, 2022). This report characterizes agricultural traits of diverse heritage strawberries. The gene pool of breeding programs has traditionally included a reliable but limited set of cultivars. The traits of lesser known heritage strawberry cultivars and selections examined by our study could be of value in expanding gene pools by tapping into existing cultivated genetic diversity. Summary Strawberries are a berry crop of global significance. We present a comprehensive evaluation of strawberry diversity through phenotyping 284 strawberry cultivars from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Clonal Germplasm Repository Corvallis, Oregon, USA. We assessed 284 cultivars in 2019 and 2020 for quantified variation across 16 traits, including phenology, plant morphology, and fruit quality traits at full ripeness. Through cluster analysis, we determined groups of accessions that had desirable traits, including quality fruits, earliest fruit ripening, or high numbers of daughter plant production. We observed that this strawberry diversity panel displayed a wide range of phenotypic variation that could prove useful for future strawberry improvement. ORUS 2427‐1, NW 90054‐37, and “Independence,” each developed by the Oregon USDA breeding program, displayed a combination of the highest fruit quality traits. “Independence” also had the longest runner length and the highest number of daughter plants. Two California cultivars, Oso Grande and Cuesta, and the Oregon cultivar Pinnacle had a short ripening time, on average 32 days between flowering and harvest, with the range for the study group of 25–41 days. Our data provide insight for breeders to expand gene pools, producers who choose cultivars for green‐wall production, or geneticists who need data to prepare genome‐wide association studies.