Abstract:

The quality changes of 8 blueberry cultivars introduced in Guizhou during cold storage were compared and
their perservabilities were determine for producer’s selecting of optimal blueberry cultivars and prolonging its supply time.
The results showed that there were big differences in the preservability among the blueberry varieties during refrigerated
storage and the decay rate and the mass loss rate of the samples increased with the extension of storage time. However, slight
changes occurred in the content of TSS while the peak respiration value varied among different cultivars, and ‘Baldwin’ had
the highest. An increase followed reduction in the reducing sugar content was observed, and ‘Powderblue’ possessed the
highest with slight changes with the exception of ‘Powderblue’ which no significant difference was found compared with
other cultivars (P ＞ 0.05). The VC content increased and ‘Brightblue’ showed marked difference from ‘Tifblue’ and ‘Climax’.
There was a fluctuation in the content of total anthocyanins during cold storage. Of the investigated cultivars, ‘Brightblue’
showed lowest decay index, highest content of VC, and the longest peak respiration time and thereby, has the highest
postharvest quality. The best cultivar suitable for storage is ‘Brighblue’ No.1 followed by ‘Climax’.

Key words: blueberry, cultivar, storage capacity, Guizhou