Strawberry pollen is collected from flowers by placing them upside-down on a labeled plastic plate and allowed to dry, releasing the pollen from the anthers for use by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS) team, led by Plant geneticist Kim Lewers who developed strawberries such as the 'Keepsake,’ a midseason, spring-bearing, or short-day strawberry (Fragaria xananassa Duch ex Rozier), that has an improved shelf-life; it is the first result from an increased effort by the ARS, in Beltsville, Maryland, on February 16, 2021.
Compared with other current strawberry cultivars and breeding selections the 'Keepsake' has a low proportion of degraded and decayed fruits. These fruits have outstanding flavor with very high sweetness, moderate tartness, pleasing texture and are juicy when eaten.
'Keepsake' fruits are attractive with good size, color, gloss, and a showy cap. They are firm and tough enough for handling during harvest and packaging. It is expected that this berry will perform well for growers in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States and adjacent areas.
'Keepsake' is resistant to anthracnose fruit rot, one of the most serious fruit rots world-wide with no fumigation or fungicides in annual plasticulture at Beltsville, MD.
Caption developed from ars.usda.gov/news-events/news/research-news/2019/a-new-ars-strawberry-is-a-keepsake/ by Sharon Durham
USDA Media by Lance Cheung.
. Original public domain image from Flickr