During postharvest ?Brigitta? blueberries higher proportion of sound fruit than ?Duke? and lower weight loss

Fresh Chilean blueberries are exported by boat (20-50 days in average), so there is the need to understand the postharvest behavior of different cultivars, to maintain their quality for longer periods. Maturity and quality evolution of highbush blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum, L.) from the cultivars ?Duke? and ?Brigitta? were studied by harvesting fruit at different stages based on color: 100% green (G), 75% green + 25% pink (25P), 50% green + 50% pink (50P), 25% green +75% pink (75P), 90-100% blue (B), 100% blue + 5 days (B+5).At each stage, three replicates (25 fruits) were used to measure skin color (L*, a*, b*), firmness (g mm-1), ethylene emission rate (?L kg-1 h-1), respiration rate (mL kg-1 h-1 of CO2), soluble solids content (SSC, %), and titratable acidity (TA, %). At commercial harvest, 8 clamshells (125 g each) of 75P, B and B+5 fruit were collected. Four clamshells were evaluated at harvest and the remaining four placed in commercial cardboard boxes and stored at 0?C for 45 days. Upon storage removal plus 1d at 20?C, fruit was evaluated for maturity, % of sound fruit and % weight loss. Preharvest data showed, for both cultivars, that development of berry color from G to B was paralleled by berry maturity (decrease in firmness and TA, increase in SSC/TA ratio). An increase in respiration and ethylene emission rates occurred earlier, between 25P and 50P. ?Duke? exhibited greater rates for respiration and ethylene than ?Brigitta?. At postharvest, differences were found between cultivars and maturity stages. ?Brigitta? showed higher proportion of sound fruit (over 75% vs.-1 vs.-1 for ?Duke?), and lower weight loss (6-10% vs. 10-20% in ?Duke?). In general, B+5 fruit resulted in over ripeness and lower quality. Additional differences in physiological and biochemical changes among cultivars, both on pre- and postharvest, need to be further studied. SourcesChanges in quality and maturity of ?Duke? and ?Brigitta? blueberries during fruit development: postharvest implicationsClaudia Moggia1, Carla Gonz?lez1, Gustavo A. Lobos1, Carolina Bravo1, Marcelo Vald?s1, Isabel Lara2, Jordi Graell21 Center of Plant Breeding and Phenomics, Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias Universidad de Talca, Casilla 747, Talca, Chile2 Unitat de Postcollita-XaRTA, Centre AGROT?CNIO, Universitat de Lleida, Alcalde Rovira Roure 191, 25198 Lleida, SpainVIII International Postharvest Symposium, Cartagena, Spain, 21-24 June 2016 Source of the picture:?Medical News Today