Seasonal Changes in the Soluble Carbohydrate Content of Strawberry Crown and Roots

Dry weights of the formalin: acetic acid: alcohol (FAA) soluble extracts obtained from the crown and roots increased from winter to spring and decreased from summer to autumn. However, the curve of the dry weight of the gelatinous extracts from the crown and root showed a bimodal pattern during the year, corresponding to the flower bud development and advanced flowering stages. The flower bud of runner plants started to differentiate about 24 days after the short-day treatment was started. Little change of dry weight in the solubilized extracts from the crown and root occurred during the course of the experiment. Contrarily, the dry weights of the gelatinous fractions increased through the flower bud differentiation phase to the pistil differentiation stage.The carbohydrate contents in the solubilized and the gelatinous extracts were 63.5 and 90.3%, respectively. The sugars in the solubilized extracts consisted of glucose, fructose, and sucrose. Whereas, the gelatinous extracts contained 6.3% total sugar and 84.0% pectic substances.