Effects of drought stress treatment on phytochemical contents of strawberry varieties

Drought is nowadays a significant environmental factor limiting plant quality and production. Strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa) is among the most widely grown and consumed fruit species in the world, and it is also extremely sensitive to drought stress. We investigated the effect of mild drought stress (MDS) on phytochemical contents in the strawberry varieties (cv. Festival, Benicia and Monterey). We applied two irrigation regimes (control and MDS). A control irrigation regime was applied to the daughter plant for the first two weeks followed by applying fertigation at the end of the second week by allowing daily drainage fraction of 30%. In MDS regime, half of the water given in the control treatment was applied, and the drainage fraction was kept at around 15%. MDS resulted in an increased content of amino acids (Protein, l-alanin, l-Aspartic acid, l-methionin, l-Glutamic acid, Fenilalanin, Lizin, Histidin, Triozin, Glisin, Valin, Leucine, Threonine, Serin, Prolin and Arjinin) but just IsoLeucine rate was not increased. DS also showed increased contents of total phenolic and total anthocyanin but DPPH level decreased.