Strawberries

Generality

Strawberries are the fruit - more correctly the false fruit or conocarp in botanical terms - of plants belonging to the family of Rosaceae and the Genre Fragaria. The most common strawberry species is the Fragaria x ananassa or vegetable / garden strawberry, obtained by crossing the Fragaria virginiana North American and the Fragaria chiloensis or Chilean.

Commercial demand and the very first strawberry crops developed from the 17th century AD. (although the first literary citations of transplants from the wild date back to the fourteenth century). Initially, trade did NOT interest the Fragaria ananassa (produced starting from the second half of the 18th century), but the Fragaria vesca or wild strawberry. Subsequently, between Great Britain and France, the hybrid ananassa it effectively replaced all wild strawberry crops by increasing yield, resistance and overall production.
Strawberries are small fruits (about 8-10 times smaller than an apple but 3-4 times bigger than a blackberry); when fully ripe they are bright red and pigmented with a yellowish-greenish color (color given by the numerous and small external achenes, commonly mistaken for seeds *). The aroma and (sweet) taste of strawberries are characteristic and make them one of the most appreciated and marketed fruits on the entire planet.

Strawberries can be eaten fresh, frozen, dried, in jam, blended, in syrup and as fruit juice or liquid syrup; moreover, they represent an ingredient widely used in the formulation of ice creams, cakes and desserts. I know the combination between strawberries and chocolate or between strawberries and whipped cream.

* From the morphological point of view, strawberries are conocarpi composed of numerous distinct achenes distributed externally to the enlarged floral receptacle (which constitutes the fleshy part of the fruit); the latter, with the development, includes the achenes or the true fruits (often mistaken for seeds).

Hints of cultivation

The various subspecies and varieties of cultivated strawberries vary from each other for: fruit size, color, flavor, shape, degree of fertility, ripening season, disease resistance and plant constitution. In most strawberries the flowers appear hermaphrodite, but their function is only male or female, never both. Generally, strawberries are NEVER produced by sowing (not very convenient), but by transplanting the "children", or pieces of branches that start from the mother plant and develop the roots. The procedure can be of type annual plastic cultivation (with plowing at the end of each season) or perennial, with severing and re-employment of "children". There is also a lower production in the greenhouse during the winter period.
The use of fertilizers (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) is always necessary, and applied in two distinct moments: at the end of the production cycle and before the start of the next one. The most dangerous parasites for strawberries are: snails, moths, fruit flies, beetles, mites and aphids; the most common fungal diseases of the leaves are: powdery mildew, rust, perenospora and mucilaginous molds, while the fruits can be attacked by gray mold and the roots by verticillum and nematodes.

Nutritional composition of Strawberries - Reference values ​​of the INRAN Food Composition Tables

Nutritional values ​​(per 100 g of edible portion)

Edible part 94.0g Waterfall 90.5g Proteins 0.9g Lipids TOT 0.4g Saturated fatty acids - g Monounsaturated fatty acids - g Polyunsaturated fatty acids - g Cholesterol - mg TOT Carbohydrates 5.3g Starch 0.0g Soluble sugars 5.3g Dietary fiber 1.6g Power 27.0kcal Sodium 2.0mg Potassium 160.0mg Iron 0.8mg Football 35.0mg Phosphorus 28.0mg Thiamine 0.02mg Riboflavin 0.04mg Niacin 0.50mg Vitamin A tr C vitamin 54.0mg Vitamin E - mg

The strawberries are picked by hand, in conjunction with complete ripeness, preferably every other day and taking care to remove the rotten fruits from the plants.

The "heads" of the strawberries must remain firmly attached to the fruit being harvested.

Consumption and nutritional characteristics

Strawberries are fruits with a modest calorific value; they mainly supply simple sugars (fructose) and the quantity of proteins and fats is negligible. On the other hand, the contribution of fiber and water is considerable.

From a saline point of view, strawberries contain excellent quantities of potassium and manganese, while as regards vitamins, considerable concentrations of folic acid and ascorbic acid (vit C) are highlighted. This last molecule is one of the main antioxidant constituents of strawberries, whose power is well supported by flavonoids (polyphenols), in particular by fisetin. It is a flavonol pigmentosum widely studied by the scientific community in various pathological contexts; the interaction between strawberry fisetin and the human organism has been observed in cases of: Alzheimer's disease, type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypercholesterolemia, etc. The results are still being clarified but it is likely that it can boast properties: antiaging, anticancer, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antiviral; however, it cannot be ruled out that it may hide side effects such as an increased risk of disease in the fetus (such as leukemia, due to the interaction with nucleic acids).
Strawberries are also potentially allergenic foods; this form of hypersensitivity (rather widespread) usually manifests itself with skin and oral mucosal symptoms, more rarely with hay fever, dermatitis, hives and respiratory problems. The active ingredient "theoretically" responsible for the adverse reactions is Fragaria allergen 1, a protein also present in apple and birch, plants towards which there is a concrete cross-reactivity of subjects allergic to strawberries. In this regard, a particular crop has been differentiated (Sofar) which produces strawberries free of Fragaria allergen1; this plant originates totally white ripe fruits (since they are free of flavonoids) and its peculiar appearance is also advantageous in the fight against avian infesters in open field crops.

Recipes with Strawberries

On the site, you can find dozens of recipes with strawberries, such as homemade strawberry jam, strawberry ice cream and strawberry tiramisu, of which we propose the video recipe below.



Strawberry tiramisu

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