Polyphenol composition in the ripe fruits of fragaria species and transcriptional analyses of key genes in the pathway

Polyphenolics are important secondary metabolites in strawberry as they fulfill a wide variety of physiological functions and are beneficial to human health. Seventeen structurally well-defined phenolic compounds including phenylpropanoids, flavonols, flavan-3-ols, and anthocyanins were individually analyzed by LC-MS in the ripe fruits of two cultivars of the commercial strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch., Rosaceae) as well as in accessions of F. vesca, F. moschata, and F. chiloensis. Metabolic analysis revealed that the majority of the compounds analyzed accumulated in a genotype-dependent manner. Transcriptional studies of genes encoding for enzymes of the biosynthetic pathway such as phenylalanine ammonia-lyase, cinnamic acid 4-hydroxylase, chalcone synthase, and flavonoid 3′-hydroxylase could partially explain the different levels of polyphenolics observed in the Fragaria species. The results can provide a sound basis for selecting markers for the development of cultivars with high phenolic content, which can be of value for the food industry.