Rare earth elements in soil may explain why some strawberries taste sweeter
Xu J, Chen H, Ni Y, Zhang Y, Yang J
Crop Improvement
The strawberry patch in your backyard or the pints at your farmers market could taste sweeter or blander depending on trace elements soaking up from the soil, something breeders could soon test for directly.
Researchers tested 25 kinds of strawberries for dozens of minerals and rare elements, then compared those levels to how much natural sugar each berry contained. They found that berries higher in certain rare earth elements tended to be sweeter, while berries with more chromium tended to be less sweet. Using computer modeling, they even figured out a possible reason: those rare elements seem to help the plant's sugar-transport machinery work better.
Key Findings
Potassium (10.03 g/kg), phosphorus (1.47 g/kg), and strontium (5.11 mg/kg) were the most abundant nutrient elements across the 25 strawberry cultivars tested.
Glucose and fructose levels correlated positively with rare earth elements (REEs) and negatively with chromium, and five cultivars ('Christmas Red', 'Kaorino', 'Akihime', 'Fenyu No.1', 'Fenyu No.2') showed the ideal combination of high sugars, high REEs, and low chromium.
Molecular docking simulations suggested Nd3+, Y3+, and Ce3+ ions may bind sucrose transporter and acid invertase proteins, potentially explaining how these elements influence sugar conversion in the fruit.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists measured 35 chemical elements in 25 strawberry varieties and found that certain rare earth elements track closely with sweetness, while chromium does the opposite, offering a new way to pick sweeter cultivars.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Microwave digestion-ICP-MS coupled with molecular docking: unraveling elemental distribution and its correlation with glucose and fructose accumulation in 25 strawberry cultivars.
This study investigated the distribution characteristics of 35 elements across 25 representative strawberry cultivars and examined their correlations with key quality parameters. Elemental profilin...
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