Molecular biological differentiation of strawberry cultivars

AGRANA Fruit Austria annually produces more than 66,000 tons of fruit preparations mainly for dairy companies (fruit yogurt). A majority of these products are strawberry preparations. A large part of the raw material (frozen strawberries) is obtained from Europe (e.g., Ukraine, Spain), North Africa (Morocco), Mexico and China. Due to the globalization of the market, the reliable discrimination of the individual varieties/cultivars of strawberries, and the associated differences in quality, will take an increasingly important role in the daily business in future. Therefore, a research project is to be started, which will focus on the differentiation and identification of strawberry cultivars by DNA fingerprinting (PCR method) and possibly by protein fingerprinting (electrophoresis).