The varieties are being launched just in time for the west-central Florida strawberry harvesting season, which runs from now until the end of March.
According to Vance Whitaker, an associate professor of horticultural sciences and a strawberry breeder at UF/IFAS, neither variety has been named, known as they are by the numbers FL 16.78-109 (white) and FL 16.30-128 (red).
“Because the white strawberry is being test-marketed this year, there has been a lot of interest in it,” said Whitaker, a faculty member at the Gulf Coast Research and Education Center.
The white strawberry, which apparently has a hint of pineapple, it is white inside and out, with a slight pink blush on the skin and red seeds, he said.
“The flavour is very different from a typical strawberry, sweet but with a pineapple-like aroma,” Whitaker said. “White strawberries have been popular for some time in Japan, but this is expected to be the first white strawberry on the market in the United States.”
Written by Carl Collen, deputy editor of Eurofruit, news editor of Americafruit and news journalist on Asiafruit.
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