New Mater-Bi based, biodegradable mulching film for strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa Duch.): effects on film duration, crop yields, qualitative and nutraceutical traits of fruits

In the main strawberry areas of Southern Italy, cultivation is carried out by transplantingplants on raised beds (30-40 cm from ground level), mulched with black polyethylene (PE). Thistechnique has becoming increasingly expensive due to the growing prices of plastic mulches, the costto remove them at the end of crop cycle, and the difficulty to dispose of black, dirty plastic films. Themain objective of this research was the replacement of PE mulch with a new biodegradable mulchingfilm Mater-Bi®-based (Novamont), characterized by an increased permanence in the field designedfor long crop life. In 2021, two Mater-Bi-based, black, 18 µm thick mulching films were tested undertunnel: N5 as innovative film and N18 as commercial standard film. Black PE film, 50 µm thick wasthe control. Strawberry cultivars 'Sabrina' and 'Elide' were cropped on the three mulching filmsaccording to a split plot design with four replications. Harvests lasted from March to June 2021. CvsSabrina and Elide yielded around 40 t ha-1, while the mean effect of mulching films did not pointout differences between the biodegradable mulches and PE. In 4 out of 12 harvests we analyzedsamples of fruits to assess the influence of mulches on the contents of oBrix, polyphenols, antioxidantactivity, ascorbic acid, flavonoids, and anthocyanins. On average, oBrix was clearly improved infruits on PE compared to biodegradable films, while all the other qualitative traits resulted in beingmore dependent on the cultivars and times of sampling effects. Overall, biodegradable mulches are aviable alternative to PE mulch, and the innovative N5 film appeared promising for the enhancementof durability of soil coverage in a long-lasting cycle.