Vance Whitaker – UF Innovate https://innovate.research.ufl.edu Building business on innovation Tue, 12 Aug 2025 04:36:37 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://innovate.research.ufl.edu/wp-content/uploads/favicon-blue_1.png Vance Whitaker – UF Innovate https://innovate.research.ufl.edu 32 32 UF Scientists See Bright Future As They Seek Savory Strawberries – And High Yield https://innovate.research.ufl.edu/uf-scientists-savory-strawberries-yield/ Thu, 15 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0000 https://scaddev1.com/uf-scientists-savory-strawberries-yield/

In a newly published paper, led by Mark Porter, a student in the Plant Breeding Ph.D. program at the UF/IFAS Gulf Coast Research and Education Center, is helping outline the past, present and potential future of breeding flavor into strawberries.

For years, scientists tried to find just the right genes for flavor, but they lacked a genetic map. Researchers found the GPS in 2019, when the first cultivated strawberry genome was published, said Porter.

“Think of it like you want to get to Seattle from Florida without a map or road signs,” he said. “With the construction of the first strawberry genome and the reduced cost of obtaining genetic information from our strawberries, we can now find the location in the genome that’s responsible for production of aroma compounds. That’s akin to scientists who study humans finding the genes that control eye color.”

Porter’s co-authors on the paper are his faculty advisors at GCREC: UF/IFAS horticultural sciences Assistant Professor Seonghee Lee and Professor/UF Innovate inventor Vance Whitaker.

Learn more about UF Scientists See Bright Future As They Seek Savory Strawberries – And High Yield ]]> UF Researchers Find Genes Responsible for Several Flavor Compounds in Strawberries https://innovate.research.ufl.edu/uf-researchers-flavor-compounds-strawberries/ Fri, 12 Aug 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://scaddev1.com/uf-researchers-flavor-compounds-strawberries/ In their quest to improve strawberry flavor, University of Florida scientists have found the genes behind several aromatic chemicals that enhance the fruit’s taste.

These findings will help UF/IFAS researchers Vance Whitaker and Seonghee Lee as they study the sources of the unique aroma in strawberries. As with many fruits, the genes that control aroma and flavor are connected.

“Finding the sources of a strawberry’s smell gets complicated. Aroma comes from more than 100 chemicals, so studying the genetics can become byzantine,” said Whitaker, a professor of horticultural sciences at the Gulf Coast Research and Education Center.

Learn more about UF Researchers Find Genes Responsible for Several Flavor Compounds in Strawberries ]]> UF Strawberry Breeder: We’re Shifting A Lot of Effort Toward Neopestalotiopsis https://innovate.research.ufl.edu/uf-strawberry-breeder-whitaker/ Fri, 21 May 2021 00:00:00 +0000 https://scaddev1.com/uf-strawberry-breeder-whitaker/ Yield and quality remain at the forefront of Vance Whitaker’s focus as University of Florida/IFAS strawberry breeder. But not far behind is Neopestalotiopsis Fruit Rot.

“We always have to pay attention to yield and quality, but we’re definitely shifting a lot of effort toward it for sure,” Whitaker said. “It certainly has leapfrogged, probably most traits, at least, just due to the fact that there’s very limited other solutions for it so far, other than varietal resistance.”

It’s the disease that has Florida farmers concerned about its long-term impact. It has progressively worsened since it was first discovered on five farms during the 2018-19 season. It has expanded across the state and even moved northward to Georgia.

While Whitaker has emphasized the importance of this disease into his breeding efforts, a solution is not going to happen overnight.

“There’s different goals that I think you would say are short, medium and long-term. We can slightly increase levels of tolerance just by switching over to different varieties. The Medallion variety, which is a new one coming out, appears to be a little bit more tolerant than our current varieties. If there’s a switch into that variety, that could help growers in the immediate term, as in next year,” Whitaker said. “But as far as improving on that, that’s at least a four or five-year solution in terms of a new variety. In terms of really strong resistance, that’s an even longer type of approach.”

Learn more about UF Strawberry Breeder: We’re Shifting A Lot of Effort Toward Neopestalotiopsis.
UF Researchers Use AI To Breed Tastier Strawberries
New White, Red Varieties From UF/IFAS Featured at This Year’s Florida Strawberry Festival
]]> UF Researchers Use AI To Breed Tastier Strawberries https://innovate.research.ufl.edu/ai-tastier-strawberries/ Fri, 09 Apr 2021 00:00:00 +0000 https://scaddev1.com/ai-tastier-strawberries/ University of Florida researchers are showing artificial intelligence can help scientists breed more flavor into fruit.

Consumer panels are the usual method UF researchers use to gauge whether new fruit varieties taste good enough to develop them for the market. But, in the evolving world of AI, a computer can now tell scientists what strawberries taste and smell like — and whether a variety is worth more genetic breeding efforts.

Vance Whitaker, a UF/IFAS associate professor of horticultural sciences, used an algorithm that gives him the ability to predict how a strawberry will taste, based on the chemical constitution of its fruit. The computer method also takes less time than volunteer test panels.

Whitaker published new research in the journal Nature Horticulture Research in which he and his team used taste-test panels and computer technology to identify the volatiles that give strawberries their unique tangy flavor.

Learn more about UF Researchers Use AI To Breed Tastier Strawberries.
https://innovate.research.ufl.edu/2021/03/03/new-white-red-varieties-from-uf-ifas-featured-at-this-years-florida-strawberry-festival/
]]> New White, Red Varieties From UF/IFAS Featured at This Year’s Florida Strawberry Festival https://innovate.research.ufl.edu/new-white-red-varieties-from-uf-ifas-featured-at-this-years-florida-strawberry-festival/ Wed, 03 Mar 2021 00:00:00 +0000 https://scaddev1.com/new-white-red-varieties-from-uf-ifas-featured-at-this-years-florida-strawberry-festival/ If you attend this year’s Florida Strawberry Festival, bear in mind that University of Florida scientists put a lot of effort into finding genetic traits that make the fruit flavorful for consumers and abundant for farmers.

As this year’s strawberry season comes to a close — and the festival is held from March 4-14, 2021 — UF/IFAS researchers announce two brand-new varieties: the white strawberry and a new red one. 

The white strawberry seems the most novel.

“Because the white strawberry is being test-marketed this year, there has been a lot of interest in it,” said Vance Whitaker, a UF/IFAS associate professor of horticultural sciences and a strawberry breeder. “The flavor is very different from a typical strawberry, sweet but with a pineapple-like aroma. White strawberries have been popular for some time in Japan, but this is expected to be the first white strawberry on the market in the United States.”

Learn more about New White, Red Varieties From UF/IFAS Featured at This Year’s Florida Strawberry Festival.

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Florida Growing New ‘Fifth Berry’ White Strawberry.
White Strawberry One of Two New UF/IFAS Varieties Ready for Harvest Season. ]]>