Ripening curve of early, midseason and late maturing highbush blueberry 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 the ripening is the red-blue stage when there is a quick improvement of quality properties. If the picking date coincides with that stage or it is earlier, the quality doesn’t evolve in postharvest and remains poor. Significant modifications in quality from the blue stage have not been recorded. This allows to reduce the number of picking without compromising the quality of the berries.