The presence of tartaric acid in the strawberries during both stages of maturity was detected only in the following cultivars: ‘Marmolada’, ‘Miss’, ‘Elsanta’, ‘Pegasus’, and ‘Northaester’. The highest content of tartaric acid irrespective of the maturity stage was measured in the fruits of the cv. ‘Elsanta’ (1.6 and 1.8 g/kg).
Shikimic and fumaric acids were presented in the strawberry fruits in very small amounts; therefore they did not significantly influence the flavour of the fruits. In the chemical analysis they were distinguished by a very high extinction. The content of fumaric and shikimic acids was statistically significantly higher during the stage of complete ripeness in some cultivars (Table 2).
The content of TSS is the function of several factors of which total sugars and organic acids constitute the major part. The lowest contents of total soluble solids in the fruits of complete ripeness were detected in the cvs. ‘Miss’ (5.2%) and Marmolada (5.4%). The cv. ‘Mohawk’ fruits developed as much as 8.7% of total soluble solids. We should stress the fact that the highest increase in the content of total soluble solids happened in the cvs. ‘Kent’ (by 1.3%), ‘Fern’ (by 1.2%) and ‘Selena’ (by 1.0%). The cultivars ‘Miss’, ‘Eros’ and ‘Simphony’ also exhibited a strong increase in the content of soluble solids during the last stage of ripening (Table 3).