Ripening curve of early, midseason and late maturing highbush bluebarry cultivars.

To investigate the evolution of quality parameters during ripening, berries of three highbush blueberry cultivars (early, mid season and late maturing) have been harvested at regular intervals of 4 days, at 6 picking stages, each of them corresponding to a ripening stage, identified by the color of the skin, according to an evaluation scale. For each phase, the most significant physico-chemical parameters have been measured. Quality traits evolve quickly from the green-blue to the blue phase. A crucial moment of ripening is the red-blue stage when there is a quick improvement in quality properties. If the picking date coincides with that stage or if it is done earlier, quality does not evolve during postharvest and remains poor. Significant modifications in quality from the blue stage have not been recorded. This allows to reduce the number of berry picking without compromising the quality of the berries.