The invention relates to a method for producing a Cucumis sativus plant, providing cucumber fruits exhibiting the phenotypic trait "extended shelf life," comprising: (a) providing a first Cucumis sativus plant containing at least one quantitative trait locus (QTL) associated with said phenotypic trait; (b) crossing the plant provided in step (a) with a second Cucumis sativus plant; (c) analyzing the progeny of the cross of step (b) for the presence or absence of said QTL; and (d) identifying and selecting plants containing said QTL; wherein the at least one QTL is selected from QTL1 or QTL2, and wherein QTL1 is identified by a first molecular marker of about 66 base pairs consisting from 5' to 3' of a first primer having the nucleotide sequence SEQ ID No:1, a cucumber genomic fragment, and a second primer having the nucleotide sequence SEQ ID No:2, and a second molecular marker of about 230 base pairs consisting from 5' to 3' of a first primer having the nucleotide sequence SEQ ID No:3, a cucumber genomic fragment, and a second primer having the nucleotide sequence SEQ ID No:4, or any part of the DNA sequence between said first and second marker; and QTL2 is identified by a first molecular marker of about 137 base pairs consisting from 5' to 3' of a first primer having the nucleotide sequence SEQ ID No:5, a cucumber genomic fragment, and a second primer having the nucleotide sequence SEQ ID No:6, and a second molecular marker of about 230 base pairs consisting from 5' to 3' of a first primer having the nucleotide sequence SEQ ID No:7, a cucumber genomic fragment, and a second primer having the nucleotide sequence SEQ ID No:8 or any part of the DNA sequence between said first and second marker.