University of Florida Develops White Strawberry Variety

Tim Hammerich

News Reporter

University of Florida strawberry breeder Dr. Vance Whitaker is constantly looking for ways to improve the industry through genetics. One of those ways may be developing a whole new product: a white strawberry.

Whitaker… “It's a strawberry same species, but it is white - it's pure white inside. And on the outside, it's got kind of a white background with a little bit of a pink blush and the seeds are red. Essentially when it's ripe, the picker can tell it's right, because it gets those red seeds, the seeds turn red, and then a little bit of a pink blush. So it's kind of an attractive, but very different look. And the flavor is also really different as well. It's sweet and it's kind of a sweet low acid flavor, but the aroma is more reminiscent of pineapple with maybe a little apricot thrown in. So it's a very different flavor. And that pineapple kind of aroma is one reason why people are calling it a pine berry.”

Dr. Whitaker says there is no products currently like this on the market in the U.S. White strawberries are popular in Japan, but have never been commercially available in the U.S. He anticipates a lot of promotion and instore testing to draw consumers’ interest to the berry.