Effects of harvest dates on the physiology and quality attributes of blueberries during long-term postharvest storage

Abstract

Harvest time has an important influence on the storability of fruits. And the blueberry fruits bloom and mature in batches. Present study was conducted to investigate the effect of harvest dates on the postharvest quality of Northland blueberries during 49 days of storage at 4?1 ?C. We examined fruit weight loss decay rate firmness soluble solid content (SSC) titratable acidity (TA) vitamin C (VC) total phenol flavonoid anthocyanin and malondialdehyde (MDA) content polyphenol oxidase (PPO) and peroxidase (POD) activities in five blueberry batches with different (early middle and late) harvest times. Results indicated that after harvest blueberries underwent deterioration of their qualities owing to fast ripening and senescence. Among the five examined batches those harvested 60 and 65 days after flowering (middle harvest) were less affected by the storage period. Fruits from these batches maintained longer postharvest quality and showed extended storage life through the deceleration of weight loss decay incidence PPO activity softness TA SSC VC and increase in the total POD activity phenol flavonoid anthocyanin and MDA content. Based on our data the early and late harvested fruits are better suited for fresh fruit sales while fruits with intermediate harvest dates are optimal for long-term storage. Our study provides a reference framework for the postharvest storage of certain blueberry cultivars by taking into account their harvest dates.