Wild Blueberry (Vaccinium Angustifolium Ait.) Harvesting and Processing Methods to Maximize Fruit Firmness of Fresh Pack Operations

Abstract

This study examined the impact of various climatic, soil, and crop parameters on the berry firmness of wild blueberries (Vaccinium angustifolium Ait.) during harvesting. Three harvesting methods were evaluated: hand raking (HR), walk-behind harvester (WH), and mechanical harvester (MH). The fruit samples were collected using all three harvesting mechanisms and categorized into four categories (good, cut-split, bruised berries, and debris). Results indicated that higher ambient temperatures showed a negative correlation with good-quality berries. The cut-split berries were observed to be higher with the rise in ambient air temperature. Non-significant differences were observed in debris harvesting methods. Results revealed that the leaf and fruit temperatures significantly influenced berry firmness for all harvesting methods (p < 0.05). Soil temperature and moisture were found to be influential factors having an impact on berry firmness. Results indicated that the optimal berry firmness was achieved within the temperature range of 15-25°C, particularly during early morning and early afternoon, underscoring the importance of temperature (time of harvesting and right temperature) for maximizing the fruit firmness which will eventually improve fruit quality and farm profitability. This study also assessed and compared the manual berry sorting system to an automated berry sorting system. Results showed that the automated system significantly reduced labor by 56.75%. This automated system also maintained high accuracy in removing soft, damaged, and off-colored berries. Results revealed that the automated system performed significantly better sorting harvested wild blueberries for the fresh pack as compared to manual sorting. Results suggested that the automated sorting system has the potential to enhance the fresh pack market by improving sorting efficiency and optimizing the fruit quality. Future research should focus on optimizing specific harvesting times and further evaluating the sorting technologies to enhance labor savings and improve berry quality.