Strawberry

The garden strawberry is a widely grown hybrid plant cultivated worldwide for its fruit. The genus Fragaria, the strawberries, is in the rose family, Rosaceae. The fruit is appreciated for its aroma, bright red colour, juicy texture, and sweetness. It is eaten either fresh or in prepared foods such as jam, ice cream, and chocolates. Artificial strawberry flavourings and aromas are widely used in commercial products. Botanically, the strawberry is not a berry, but an aggregate accessory fruit. Each apparent 'seed' on the outside of the strawberry is actually an achene, a botanical fruit with a seed inside it.

Evolution

History and taxonomy In Europe, until the 17th century cultivated plants were obtained by transplanting strawberries from the forests; the plants were propagated asexually by pegging down the runners, allowing them to root, and then separating the new plants. F. virginiana, the Virginia strawberry, was brought to Europe from eastern North America; F. chiloensis, the Chilean strawberry, was brought from Chile by Amédée-François Frézier in 1714. File:Fragaria vesca LC0389.jpg|Fragaria vesca, a wild woodland strawberry, was cultivated until the 17th century. File:Strawberry gariguette DSC03063.JPG|Antoine Nicolas Duchesne discovered that the cultivated strawberry ('Gariguette' pictured) was a hybrid of F. chiloensis and F. virginiana. }} == Description ==

Description

pod. The strawberry is a swollen receptacle, covered with many small achenes, the botanical fruits. File:Two strawberry leaves sunny.jpg|Leaves File:Flower of Fragaria × ananassa.JPG|Flower File:Garden strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) close-up.jpg|Achenes (botanical fruits) File:Strawberry growth (Video).webm|Growth (video) == Composition ==

Composition

Nutrition Raw strawberries are 91% water, 8% carbohydrates, 1% protein, and contain negligible fat (table). A reference amount of supplies 33 kilocalories, is a rich source of vitamin C (65% of the Daily Value, DV), and a good source of manganese (17% DV), with no other micronutrients in significant content (table). Strawberries contain a modest amount of essential unsaturated fatty acids in the achene (seed) oil. Other polyphenols present include flavonoids, such as anthocyanins, flavanols, flavonols and phenolic acids, such as hydroxybenzoic acid and hydroxycinnamic acid. Although achenes comprise only about 1% of the total fresh weight of a strawberry, they contribute 11% of all polyphenols in the whole fruit; achene phytochemicals include ellagic acid, ellagic acid glycosides, and ellagitannins. Pelargonidin-3-glucoside is the major anthocyanin pigment in strawberries, giving them their red colour, with cyanidin-3-glucoside in smaller amounts.