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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Kearneysville, West Virginia » Appalachian Fruit Research Laboratory » Innovative Fruit Production, Improvement, and Protection » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #383687
Research Project: Integrated Production and Automation Systems for Temperate Fruit Crops

Location: Innovative Fruit Production, Improvement, and Protection

Title: Effects of machine-harvest interval on fruit quality of fresh market northern highbush blueberry

Author
item CAI, YIXIN - Washington State University
item Takeda, Fumiomi
item FOOTE, BRIAN - Oxbo International Corporation
item WASKO DEVETTER, LISA - Washington State University

Submitted to: Horticulturae
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/10/2021
Publication Date: 8/13/2021
Citation: Cai, Y., Takeda, F., Foote, B., Wasko Devetter, L. 2021. Effects of machine-harvest interval on fruit quality of fresh market northern highbush blueberry. Horticulturae. https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae7080245.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae7080245

Interpretive Summary: Machine harvesting of blueberries reduces labor cost, but it increases the amount of fruit damage and decreases packout compared to hand picking. This study determined the effect of machine picking interval on harvest efficiency and fruit quality. Hand picking resulted in greater packout and berry firmness compared to machine picking. Harvest intervals of three or 14 days reduced quality and packout. Our findings suggested that in northwest Washington state, a harvest interval of seven days is recommended to yield good quality blueberries for fresh market but may be extended to 10 days to save on operational cost.

Technical Abstract: Machine harvesting blueberry (Vaccinium sp.) alleviates labor costs and shortages, but reduces fruit quality. Installation of softer catching surfaces inside modified over-the-row harvesters (modified OTR) and adjusting harvest intervals can improve fruit quality and packout. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of harvest interval on harvest efficiency and fruit quality of fresh market blueberry harvested using a modified OTR. ‘Liberty’ blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) were harvested by hand or a modified OTR at 3-, 10-, and 14-day intervals in 2019 and at 7-, 11-, and 14-day intervals in 2020. Hand-harvested ‘Liberty’ had greater packout and firmness than machine-harvested fruit. Machine harvesting at the three-day interval in 2019 and the 14-day interval in 2020 had poor packout. In 2019, greater firmness was detected in machine-harvested fruit at the three-day interval. Titratable acidity (TA) was higher and total soluble solids (TSS) and TSS/TA at the three-day interval were lower. In 2020, the seven-day machine harvest interval had a greater TA and lower TSS/TA. Overall, modified OTR machine harvest intervals in northwest Washington can be extended to 10–11 days for fresh market ‘Liberty’ to save operational cost and increase harvest efficiency.