Effect of Cultivar, Controlled Atmosphere Storage, and Fruit Ripeness on the Long-term Storage of Highbush Blueberries

ADDITIONAL INDEX WORDS. Alternaria, calcium, Colletotrichum, controlled atmosphere, cultivar, fruit quality, fruit ripening, storage life, Vaccinium corymbosum SUMMARY. Controlled-atmosphere storage had little effect on the quality of fruit of eight cultivars held under 2 kPa oxygen (O2) and 8 kPa carbon dioxide (CO2) versus ambient air. ‘Elliott’ fruit harvested from bushes with only 30% ripe fruit had significantly better storage quality than fruit picked later; however, there was no significant difference in the storage life of fruit that was stored fully blue versus partially green. Fruit from the first harvest of four cultivars had superior storage quality to that of the second. In one comparison of the long-term storability of nine cultivars, ‘Bluegold’, ‘Brigitta’, and ‘Legacy’ performed the best, storing for 4 to 7 weeks. In another postharvest trial of 17 cultivars, ‘Brigitta’ stored the longest (8 weeks) followed by ‘Aurora’ and ‘Draper’ (7 weeks). The most resistant genotypes to Alternaria spp. were ‘Brigitta’, ‘Aurora’, ‘Elliott’, and ‘Draper’, whereas the most resistant genotypes to Colletotrichum spp. were ‘Elliott’, ‘Brigitta’, ‘Toro’, ‘Draper’, and ‘Bluejay’.