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Effects of Elevated CO2 on the Quantity and Quality of Strawberry Fruit
Reference
Wang, S.Y. and Bunce, J.A.  2004.  Elevated carbon dioxide affects fruit flavor in field-grown strawberries (Fragaria x ananassa Duch).  Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 84: 1464-1468.

What was done
The authors grew strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa Duchesne cv Honeoye) plants out-of-doors in open-top chambers (maintained at CO2 concentrations of ambient, ambient + 300 ppm CO2, and ambient + 600 ppm CO2) from rooted runners transplanted into field plots until the plants reached maturity and their fruit were harvested at the commercially ripe stage, after which the fruit were analyzed for a number of parameters that contribute to their flavor and aroma.

What was learned
Plants grown in air enriched with an extra 300 ppm CO2 produced 17.6% more dry matter per fruit than the plants grown in ambient air, while plants grown in air enriched with an extra 600 ppm CO2 produced 38.5% more dry matter per fruit than the plants grown in ambient air.  Likewise, the ambient + 300 ppm CO2 plants contained 12% more total sugars (which enhance flavor) per gram dry weight of fruit than the ambient-treatment plants, while the ambient + 600 ppm plants contained 20% more total sugars per gram dry weight of fruit than the ambient-treatment plants.  In addition, the ambient + 300 ppm CO2 plants contained 8.4% less total organic acids (which promote sourness) per gram dry weight of fruit than the ambient-treatment plants, while the ambient +600 ppm plants contained 17.4% less total organic acids per gram dry weight of fruit than the ambient-treatment plants.  It was also determined that the elevated levels of atmospheric CO2 significantly increased the fruit concentrations of several aroma-enhancing compounds.

What it means
Wang and Bunce conclude their paper by saying "the results of this study indicate that enhancing CO2 concentration in the growing atmosphere would probably improve fruit quality by increasing fruit dry weight, sugar and aroma concentration and decreasing acid content."


Reviewed 17 November 2004