Quantification and Distribution of Primary and Secondary Metabolites in the Inner and Outer Parts of Strawberry Fruit

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

It would be helpful to describe the origin of the fruits in more detail (harvest time - ? harvest of the plants, ripening stage, size of the fruits) because this may have an impact on the results (as mentioned in the text) - please add

the ripening index is not described properly - literature is missing - comparison with other studies - should be added

2.6.: Standards of used phenols are missing - please add

2.7.: please add minor modifications (lne 176 and 196)

Table 2: I think in this table the impact of the parameters are shown, not the "effects" - please change the word

3.6.: please add the absolute protein content in order to get more information about the absolute enzyme activities in the inner and outer parts

line 389: What is the optimal ripening stage for harvest? please add

Author Response

Thank you very much for your comments. The manuscript was revised, please find my notes to your individual comments below.

It would be helpful to describe the origin of the fruits in more detail (harvest time - ? harvest of the plants, ripening stage, size of the fruits) because this may have an impact on the results (as mentioned in the text) - please add

• The date of the harvest is mentioned in the Methods section and additionally the ripening stage was clarified. As for size, from each cultivar, the fruits were sorted and only fruit of the same size was sampled and small or large fruits were excluded.

the ripening index is not described properly - literature is missing - comparison with other studies - should be added

• Added references to the Methods section for previous applications of this method in other fruits and also added a reference to the results section to previously reported results for strawberries.

2.6.: Standards of used phenols are missing - please add

• Added list of standards used for the quantification and manufacturers of these standards.

2.7.: please add minor modifications (lne 176 and 196)

• Added notes to the methods section. The modifications are described.

Table 2: I think in this table the impact of the parameters are shown, not the "effects" - please change the word

• Updated in all tables.

3.6.: please add the absolute protein content in order to get more information about the absolute enzyme activities in the inner and outer parts

• Added to table and comment was added to the discussion.

line 389: What is the optimal ripening stage for harvest? please add

• Added a note in the Results section.

Reviewer 2 Report

Horticulturae 2408765

The above paper examines the distribution of various metabolites in the inner and outer part of strawberry fruit.  Data were collected from four cultivars over a single season.

Overall, the experimental set-up and data analysis are acceptable.  I did find it unusual that the main objective of the study was to determine whether you are best to sample the inner or outer part of the fruit.  Traditionally, whole fruit are used for chemical/quality assessment.  So, the study is not overly novel.

The paper should be suitable for publication if amended along the lines suggested in this report.

Delete the reference to small and large fruit.  The key findings of the study indicate that whole fruit should be sampled for chemical analyses rather than parts of the fruit.

Please check the number of significant figures in all the means presented in the tables.

The paper is somewhat long compared with the significance of the study.  Many of the results are repeated in the ‘Discussion’.  I suggest that these two sections be combined.

In all the table headings, please use sentence case.  For example, “Citric” not “citric”.

“Content” should be “Concentration”.

The “Conclusion” should be reduced to 3-4 sentences highlighting the main findings of the study.

Add a note in the ‘Abstract’ and “Discussion” that data were collected for only a single harvest.  This weakens the significance of the study, with fruit chemistry highly variable over different harvests in a season and across seasons.

None.

Author Response

Thank you for your comments. The manuscript was revised. Please find answers to your individual comments below.

Delete the reference to small and large fruit.  The key findings of the study indicate that whole fruit should be sampled for chemical analyses rather than parts of the fruit.

• Removed

Please check the number of significant figures in all the means presented in the tables.

• The significant number of figures was reduced where unnecessary and unified within the same variable in all the tables.

The paper is somewhat long compared with the significance of the study.  Many of the results are repeated in the ‘Discussion’.  I suggest that these two sections be combined.

• The sections were combined and rephrased where necessary.

In all the table headings, please use sentence case.  For example, “Citric” not “citric”.

• Corrected

“Content” should be “Concentration”.

• We refer to the results as “content” since the results are presented per weight. Whereas “concentration” is used when referring to amounts per volume of liquid or gas as described here: doi.org/10.11613/BM.2013.017

The “Conclusion” should be reduced to 3-4 sentences highlighting the main findings of the study.

• The Conclusion was shortened to focus on the key findings.

Add a note in the ‘Abstract’ and “Discussion” that data were collected for only a single harvest.  This weakens the significance of the study, with fruit chemistry highly variable over different harvests in a season and across seasons.

• Added notes in the Abstract, Introduction and Discussion parts that the assessment was done from one harvest point.