Fruits of the strawberry cv. Pajaro, recently introduced in the south of Chile, present problems of uneven distribution of red colour during ripening. Chlorophyll and chlorophyllide pigments and chlorophyllase activity were measured in fruits at 3 maturity stages. Chlorophyllase activity in green (polar diameter 1.798 cm, equatorial diameter 1.295 cm, weight 1.687 g), light green (polar diameter 2.360 cm, equatorial diameter 1.93 cm, weight 3.156 g) and 3/4 red fruits (polar diameter 3.372 cm, equatorial diameter 2.592 cm, weight 15.659 g) was 8.95 plus or minus 0.70 nmol chlorophyll/h g fresh weight (FW), 7.57 plus or minus 1.05 nmol chlorophyll/h g FW and 3.85 plus or minus 0.18 nmol chlorophyll/h g FW, respectively. Chlorophyll content decreased from 26 653 nmol/g in green fruits to 4610 nmol/g in 3/4 red fruits.