Abstract:

The physical, chemical and nutritional indicators of blueberry fruit from 10 cultivars were analyzed. Results
indicated that single fruit weight, density, firmness and other physical indicators displayed slight differences, but juice yield,
total acidity, sugar/acid ratio, vitamin C, crude protein and anthocyanins exhibited significant differences among different
blueberry cultivars. The highest juice yield was observed in the Berkeley cultivar and the lowest was in Duke, which were
78.47% and 44.75%, respectively. The sugar/acid ratios ranged from 11.01 to 51.75. Soluble solids, electrical conductivity,
pH and total phenol content showed no obvious differences among different blueberry cultivars. The soluble solid content
was in a range of 8.9% to 13.3%. The activities of peroxidase (POD) and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) in different blueberry
cultivars showed significant differences. Preliminary evaluation by cluster analysis and sensory evaluation indicated that
Duke and Sunrise were excellent table blueberry cultivars while Berkeley, Northland 1 and Northblue were excellent
cultivars for juicing and wine-making. Saintcloud and Northland 3 were excellent cultivars for jam making.

Key words: blueberries, cultivar, processing adaptability, cluster analysis