## 1 Introduction  
Strawberry fruit (_Fragaria \(\times\) ananassa_) belongs to the Rosaceae family and is the most popular berry consumed as either fresh fruit or processed products, such as syrups, jam, flavourings, and ice creams, thanks to their unique organoleptic characteristics and nutraceutical value. The high content of phytochemical molecules, mostly ascorbic acid, anthocyanins, and flavonoids, confers on the strawberry a protective activity against reactive oxygen species and free radicals [1, 2]. In the last decades, breeding programs have been focused on the development of new strawberry cultivars characterized by improved agronomic, organoleptic, and nutraceutical trails [3, 4]. In fact, consumer quality acceptance is strongly related to specific perceived sensory traits, including fruit colour, shape, acidity, and sweetness, combined with flavour and aroma, which are defined by the pattern of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Finally, in the overall evaluation of quality, the nutritional value, intended as the content of bioactive compounds with beneficial effects on human health, is considered [3]. Compared to other fruit crops, the nutritional and sensorial properties of strawberry can be ascribed to the interaction among genetic, agronomic, and environmental features. Specifically, as the quality of strawberries cannot be improved after harvest, consumer acceptance and nutritional aspects of fruit can be modulated by modifying the preharvest conditions, including soil type, irrigation, fertilization, mulching, ripening stage, and other agricultural practices [5; 6]. Strawberries quickly deteriorate during the harvest campaign and in the post-harvest phase, so they are commonly grown on raised beds by covering the soil around plants with plastic mulching films [6; 7; 8]. The introduction of the mulching system in strawberry cultivation has brought multiple agronomic benefits with an improvement of fruit quality until harvest by avoiding direct contact of the fruit with the soil [7]. Notably, higher phenolic content has been detected in fruit from strawberry plants grown on plastic films than in those produced on bare soil. Moreover, white mulch increased the amount of the total phenolic compounds and ellagic acid and the overall antioxidant activity in strawberry fruit more than brown mulch, while the total anthocyanin level was the highest in berries obtained using brown mulch. Strawberries cultivated on red plastic mulch contained significantly higher amounts of flavour compounds than those grown on black mulch due to different light exposure caused by the mulch colour [3; 5; 9]. The impact of the colour of plastic mulches on strawberry quality is related to the quantity and quality of light reaching the plant, which in turn affects the plant growth and development and subsequently the production of plant secondary metabolites, including the aroma and phenolic compounds [3; 5; 9]. Although strawberries ripened over red plastic mulch gave the fruit a series of improved parameters, such as higher fruit size, concentration of phytonutrients, flavour, and aroma components, the most commonly used plastic mulch colour is black [3; 5; 9]. Plastic films, mainly made by resistant and durable low-density polyethylene (PE), are non-compostable and non-biodegradable, causing critical soil contaminations of phthalate and phthalic acid esters and also increasing agricultural plastic wastes (pipes, fittings, and agricultural packaging) [6; 7]. Currently, there is a great effort towards the replacement of PE with biodegradable mulches that offer similar performance compared to the conventional films but disappear from the soil within 5-6 months, being completely converted in organic substances [6; 7; 8]. In the last years, several agronomic trials have demonstrated the efficiency of thermoplastic starch-based mulches, such as those derived from Mater-Bi, a proprietary trade name by Novamont, as a good alternative to PE films for strawberry cultivation [8].