Evaluation of Postharvest Quality of Three Commercial Blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) Cultivars Stored in Two Different Types of Clamshells

Abstract

Three commercial blueberry cultivars, 'Duke', 'Bluecrop', and 'Elliott' were hand-harvested and stored at 0-4°C and in room temperatures using two types of clamshells: commercial or moisture efficient. The changes in post-harvest berry quality attributes, such as fruit weight, firmness, and soluble solids, were analyzed during storage. As expected, blueberries stored at 0-4°C had a longer shelf-life and better quality compared to those stored at room temperature. The blueberries stored in the moisture efficient clamshells had significantly less weight loss for all three blueberry cultivars and longer shelf-life than the commercial clamshells. Thus, the moisture efficient clamshell is recommended as a better storage/packaging method for prolonging fresh blueberry's shelf-life and maintaining good berry quality. © 2012 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.