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Quality Assurance Sustems for TSIPS Plant Tissue Culture - ISO 9001:2015 Certification of Strawberry G0 and G1 Healthy Seedlings

Quality Assurance Sustems for TSIPS Plant Tissue Culture
ISO 9001:2015 Certification of Strawberry G0 and G1 Healthy Seedlings

Strawberries with the rich aroma of sweet and sour taste is one of the representative crops of the sixth industrialization in Taiwan, belong to the most popular and valuable small berry crops. Strawberries are an excellent source of vitamin C and manganese and contain decent amounts of folate (vitamin B9) and potassium. They are very rich in antioxidants, which may have benefits for heart health and blood sugar control. Li ShiZhen, master herbalist, who wrote in his monumental Compendium of Materia Medica, demonstrates that “Strawberries invigorate and nourish vitality, lifts spirits and strengthens energy.”

The garden strawberry is a widely grown hybrid species of the genus Fragaria. The strawberry seedling propagation period in Taiwan starts from April to September using stolons, up to 22million seedlings each year. The challenge for farmers is to propagate healthier strawberry seedlings in such humid at high temperature weather. The farmers might need to deal with seedlings infected by pathogens like fungal anthracnose and fusarium wilt which might transmit by unhealthy mother plants or contaminated environments. Farmers who produce strawberries need to be attention about the quality of seedlings and how these seedlings being culitivated. Otherwise the soil might be contaminated by these seedlings with unclear source.

The ISO 9001:2015 is a set of internationally-used quality management tools. The Plant Tissue Culture Propagation Laboratory of the Taiwan Seed Improvement and Propagation Station (TSIPS), Council of Agriculture introduced the ISO 9001 international quality management verification system in 2014, and passed the TAF verification audit to become the first plant tissue culture laboratory in Taiwan to obtain the ISO 9001 certification. In 2017, in line with industrial needs, the production of tissue culture seedlings (G0) such as strawberries, grapes, and potatoes was included in the verification system. In 2019, the project was further expanded to include strawberry G1 healthy seedlings. The production procedure for strawberry seedlings in TSIPS tissue culture laboratory for industrial applications were passed with ISO 9001: 2015.

TSIPS passed the ISO 9001: 2015 audit certification.
Fig1. TSIPS passed the ISO 9001: 2015 audit certification.

Healthy strawberry tissue culture seedlings (left) and G1 seedlings produced (right) in TSIPS.
Fig 2. Healthy strawberry tissue culture seedlings (left) and G1 seedlings produced (right) in TSIPS.