Objective Flavor Comparison of Oregon Strawberries and those from other climatic condition

Oregon’s strawberry industry has more than a century history. Unfortunately, strawberry production has been declining drastically in the last two half decades due to declining price, rising cost of production and competition from California, Florida, Mexico and China. Most of Oregon’s strawberries were for processing markets. The combination of warm, dry days with cool nights optimizes color and flavor development. In addition, the cultivars grown in Oregon were selected with processing, not fresh, quality parameters in mind including high sugar levels, high acid levels, intense red internal and external color, low drip loss, and intense flavor. In other word, Oregon’s berries are superior in quality for processing. The survival of Oregon’s strawberry industry relies on consumer’s recognition and willingness to pay for premium quality. The goal of this research is to objectively compare the quality of Oregon strawberry with California’s to assist marketing promotion of Oregon strawberry as “Smaller, Redder, Simply Better”. In addition, the methodologies developed will be used to further evaluate and select new strawberry cultivars for Oregon strawberry industry.