‘Eunhyang’ is a new strawberry cultivar developed in 2021 by the Strawberry Research Institute of the Chungcheongnam-do Agricultural Research and Extension Services for forcing culture. The cultivar was bred to diversify the domestic market dominated by the single cultivar ‘Sulhyang’ and to improve fruit quality, including sweetness, firmness, and flavor. ‘Daewang,’ characterized by excellent flavor, aroma, and high firmness was used as the female parent, while ‘Durihyang,’ bred by the same institute with large fruit size, strong vigor, and good taste, was used as the male parent. Artificial crossing was conducted in 2017, followed by seedling selection, evaluation of characteristics, and productivity testing from 2018 to 2020. The selected line, initially designated ‘Nonsan 16,’ was officially named ‘Eunhyang’ in 2021. ‘Eunhyang’ exhibits semi-spreading growth, strong plant vigor, and elliptic leaves. Its flowering date is slightly earlier than that of ‘Sulhyang,’ and it shows excellent continuous flowering ability. The first harvest date was similar to that of ‘Sulhyang.’ The fruits are conical and bright light red. The first flower cluster has 8.6 flowers, fewer than ‘Sulhyang’ (16.8), reducing labor for flower thinning. It demonstrates higher soluble solids content (11.0 °Brix), stronger fruit firmness (14.1 g/mm²), and a higher sugar-to-acid ratio (19.0) than ‘Sulhyang.’ The average fruit weight is 17.7 g, which is heavier than ‘Sulhyang’ (15.4 g). Total yield is 3,945 kg/10a, which is 93% of ‘Sulhyang’ (4,236 kg/10a). ‘Eunhyang’ is relatively susceptible to anthracnose, powdery mildew, and two-spotted spider mites. ‘Eunhyang’ was registered for plant variety protection in 2023 (Registration No. 9751).

Crown rot caused by Phytophthora cactorum is one of several serious, widespread diseases that cause problems in strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) cultivation. In this study, we aimed to identify a strawberry resistant to P. cactorum through bioassay. A total of 104 wild and cultivated strawberry accessions, including ‘Sulhyang’ and ‘Akihime’, were inoculated with an isolate of P. cactorum, ‘PC151111’. A zoospore suspension was used with a density of approximately 10⁶ zoospores·mL^-1. Three strawberry seedlings were tested three times independently. The disease index was scored on a scale from 0–4 through symptom observation while the inoculated plants were incubated at 25±3°C under 16 h/8 h (light/dark) conditions for three weeks. The results showed that the mean disease index varied from 0.78–3.78, and the ‘Pechika’ and ‘Kaorino’ cultivars were highly resistant to P. cactorum, with mean disease indexes of 0.78 and 0.89, respectively. These cultivars will be useful resources in breeding strawberries resistant to crown rot.