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Understanding the performance of strawberry cultivars in response to the evolving environment and growth medium is a key factor in choosing materials with the aptitude to serve the consumer market. Here, we investigated whether strawberry cultivars in soilless cultivation and greenhouse differ in their agronomic potential. We have studied seven cultivars in an experiment designed in randomized blocks, with four replications. We used analysis of variance and multivariate to examine production attributes, the chemical quality of fruits, and their phytochemical profile. Among the seven cultivars, three heterogeneous groups were formed, gathering the materials mainly due to the similarity in terms of the content of total polyphenols (TPO) and average fresh fruit mass (AFFM). ‘Aromas’ produced the greatest number of strawberries. ‘Fronteras’ and ‘Monterey’, in turn, were the most productive cultivars, and ‘Albion’ and ‘Fronteras’ produced the largest fruits. ‘Albion’ produced the sweetest and tastiest fruits, with an adequate relationship between sugar and acidity. ‘Camino Real’ produced fruits with higher phytochemical content. We conclude that the seven strawberry cultivars in soilless cultivation and greenhouse have contrasting agronomic potential, which indicates that the producers can establish their crops with different materials. We suggest the use of ‘Fronteras’ to obtain greater yield and fruit size, ‘Albion’ to producers looking to grow sweeter and tastier fruits, and ‘Camino Real’ to obtain strawberries rich in secondary metabolites.

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Ex vitro strawberry plantlets from micropropagation and coinoculated with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and biochar can provide beneficial health effects. In the present study, we evaluated the effects of different proportions of biochar in the presence and absence of AMF on the production of secondary metabolites in the leaves and roots of strawberry plantlets during ex vitro acclimatization. Additionally, the enzymatic activity of the substrate enriched with AMF and biochar was analyzed. The experiment consisted of the control (absence of the mycorrhizal community) and four biochar proportions (0, 3, 6, and 9% of the volume of the container) coinoculated with AMF. Plantlets produced on substrates enriched with AMF showed higher levels of polyphenols, flavonoids, phenolic acids, and tannins in the tissues analyzed than control plantlets. The combination of AMF and 9% biochar increased the content of total flavonoids in the leaves of strawberry plantlets and increased the activity of phosphatase. The substrate with up to 6% biochar and mycorrhizae showed increased β-glucosidase activity. In conclusion, mycorrhizae are excellent tools to improve the phytochemical quality of strawberry plantlets acclimatized ex vitro. The association between host plants, mycorrhizal symbionts, and bioactivators of these fungi potentiates properties beneficial to health, which can be exploited efficiently in sustainable agriculture.

Although different studies have shown beneficial effects of using rock powder on plants, no research has been done to determine the influence of adding this input to the strawberry growing substrate (Fragaria X ananassa Duch.). Thus, we investigated whether proportions of rock powder added to the cultivation substrate interfere in the agronomic performance of strawberry. The treatments tested were five proportions of rock powder (0%, 15%, 30%, 45% and 60% of the volume of the container). The experiment was designed in randomized blocks, with four replications. The supply of fertigation was reduced by half in order to verify whether the rock powder would be able to supply part of the nutrient demand required by the strawberry. The determination coefficient obtained was 0.83, indicating that the total production of fruits (TP) was explained in 83% by the proportions of rock powder added. We also observed that TP decreased linearly with the increase in the proportion of rock powder added to the cultivation substrate. TP was also negatively associated with the increase in the density of the culture media. In conclusion, increasing amounts of rock powder added to the cultivation substrate create a denser environment, not providing the necessary quantities for the development of the strawberry and this reduces its productive potential.

One of the difficulties in the kale seedlings production in containers is to ensure the production of aboveground biomass with a limited portion of roots, restricted to a small volume of substrate. Thus, we investigated whether substrates with organic compost added to it associated with kale cultivars interfere in the quality of seedlings produced in a greenhouse. Here, we studied two kale cultivars and five substrates. The experiment was designed in randomized blocks, with treatments arranged in a bifactorial scheme (2 x 5), with three replications. We carried out the physical and chemical characterization of the substrates and evaluated attributes of the aerial part and root system of the kale seedlings. The results showed that the substrate with the highest water retention was the one without the addition of organic compost. The greater the proportion of organic compound added to the substrate, the higher the nitrogen, phosphorus and organic carbon values. Seedlings produced in the substrate with greater water retention capacity had better performance in relation to the morphology of the aerial part and the morphology of the root system. We conclude that seedlings of kale cultivars associated with substrates with higher water retention have better quality. Seedlings of the ‘Gaudina’ cultivar stand out for their better phytometric morphology, while seedlings of the ‘Manteiga’ cultivar have higher quality of root biomass.