GROWING BLUEBERRIES

Post harvest of blueberry

2011-12-02T05:16:00.001-08:00

Bushes are picked over several times by hand for fresh sales and mostly machine harvested for processed fruits.

Hand harvested blueberries are generally firmer compared to machine-harvested fruits.

Mechanical harvesters are two types: over the row or hand held vibrator and catch frame harvesters. Both results in loss of berries on the ground and berry quality is generally inferior to the of hand harvested fruits.

The ripe berries are harvested and ideally they can be frozen to preserve the nutrients as soon as they are picked.

The berries are very fragile and fairly perishable ,do not store very well for a long period. Blueberries are having a shelf life of only 2 weeks stored at 32 °F and 90 to 95 percent humidity.

Storage temperature also influences the rate of moisture loss, particularly when fruit is handled under very low humidity levels.

Chemical composition of the blueberry as well as color change and texture, is affected by storage time and temperature and species.
Post harvest of blueberry

Southern highbush blueberry

2011-10-05T09:14:00.001-07:00

Southern highbush blueberry (V. corymbosum hybrids with V. darrowi, V. ashei and other southern Vaccinium species).

Southern highbush blueberries over hybrids that may contain genetic material from two, three and sometimes four Vaccinium species.

It was developed for hybridization of the northern highbush with southern species, is well adapted to planting in South Carolina, Georgia, Florida ,the Gulf States and eastern Texas.

Breeders have combined the characteristics of northern highbush and southern highbush blueberries to yield cultivars that are adapted to the deep south, with a shorter fruit development period and very early maturity.

Southern highbush were specifically hybridized for superior fruit, soil adaptability, heat tolerance and low winter chilling.

Southern highbush plants are similar in most ways to northern highbush plants, but they have low winter chilling requirements and can be grown into southern Florida.

Southern or ‘low chill’ highbush are generally adapted to the sane mild climatic regions as rabbiteye blueberries and being established in small commercial and trial plantings from southern Virginia to northern Florida and along the Gulf Coast to east Texas and central Arkansas in the United States and in subtropical regions in Australia.
Southern highbush blueberry

Lowbush Blueberry

2011-09-04T19:37:00.000-07:00

Lowbush blueberry V. myrtilloides is the predominant species in recently established fields, but V. angustifolium is most abundant in older plantings and is the lowbush blueberry commerce.

Lowbush blueberry plants are many branched woody shrubs 12 to 20 inches tall. They spread by seed but also via rhizomes, ground level horizontal stems that sprout genetically identical clones.

The flower is greenish white, sometimes with reddish streaks. The bluish fruits are up to 1.2 cm across.

Honey bees and many species of non-managed bees visit lowbush blueberry. Some wild bees are locally numerous and probably important pollinators.

Lowbush blueberry cultivation is basically the management of native stands of wild blueberry.

Lowbush blueberries are often grown on soils with less than 3% organic matter.

Large areas with a high density of native blueberries may be fertilized or sprayed to control weeds and insects, provided with bees for pollination during bloom and harvested with hand rakes or to a lesser extent, mechanical harvesters.

Although the fruit of the lowbush blueberry is small, many people consider its flavor superior to that of other blueberries.
Lowbush Blueberry

Blueberry Products

2011-07-10T03:18:00.000-07:00

Blueberries are processed into traditional products such as jams and jelly juice, puree, canned and dried. Others are preserves, compotes, sauces, pies, cobblers, and pastries.

Unlike some seasonal fruits, blueberries are preserved in various ways the people can buy them year around. Traditional jams, and jellies, frozen berries and can pie filling have been joined on grocery store shelves by other products such as blueberry juice and dried blueberry.

Blueberry juice is generally marketed as a blend with other jucies. The basic making steps are similar to strawberries. Single-strength blueberry juice is about 8-12 degree Brix.

Frozen blueberry juice concentrates of 45-65 degree Brix are made by concentrating single-strength blueberry juice and freezing to less than -18 degree Celsius.

Canned blueberries can be light or heavy syrup packed or water packed. For this, fresh or frozen blueberries are placed in cans, light syrup or water is added to cover the head specie, and cans are sealed and heat processed at about 93-95 degree Celsius with 25-30 minutes holding time.

Blueberry bakery fillings can be made from fresh/frozen blueberries and/or blueberry or concentrates by adding sweeteners and stabilizer according to requirements, heat processing and packaging.

The bakery trade has always been primary market for blueberries, but the popularity of blueberry in the preparation of muffins in coffee shops and home baking since World War II created an even larger market.

A great snack or cereal toping, dried blueberries are made with fresh or frozen fruit infused with a sugar solution to keep the dried berry soft, then dehydrated with hot air, reducing their moisture content to around 20 percent.

Other product is freeze-dried blueberries. Freeze-dried blueberries are light, crispy, of low density (about 0.10) and their water activity is slightly above 0.20. These products have found increasing used in ready-to-eat cereals because of their light texture, low bulk density, and water activity.
Blueberry Products

Blueberries the easiest to grow

2011-06-01T02:33:00.001-07:00

Blueberries are one of the easiest and most rewarding small fruits to grow. If the soil pH can be adjusted so that it is low enough to support the acid soil requirement of blueberries, cultural practices should not be difficult.

Blueberries need a good drainage. Though they like a descent of water, they do not like to have their feet wet all the time.

If the soil is full of clay, add materials such as compost and sand to improve aeration and drainage.

A mature bush can give up to 20 Ibs. of fruit, so they are well worth growing even if the condition are less than ideal.

In addition to being a fruit plant, blueberries make an attractive landscape plant ether as single plant or planted in a hedge.

Blueberries fit into small spaces. The plants are attractive with pretty white flowers in spring and leaves that turn a vivid red in autumn.

The spring blossoms are very fragrant and the fall foliage is a beautiful red. The berries attract birds who come to feed on them.

It is much easier to cultivate blueberry s in areas of the country where they grow naturally. Any commercial production is usually restricted to these areas.

The fruit of many species of wild blueberry are harvested for local use, but those of three species – Vaccinium corymbosum Vaccinium ashei and Vaccinium angustifolium, are today sold in a large commercial scale.

Many blueberries grow in the wild. There are two major cultivated species of blueberries, the highbush and the rabbiteye.
Blueberries the easiest to grow

Vitamin in Blueberries

2011-04-01T03:32:00.000-07:00

Vitamin in blueberries include vitamin C, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin B3, vitamin B6 and vitamin E.

Vitamin also can help heal wounds, fight infections and enhance absorptions of iron from other foods.

Vitamin C and vitamin E in blueberries offer an oxidant properties, which help to fight aging by ridding human bodies of harmful chemicals that have damaging, long term effects on human features and internal organ systems.

Blueberries also contain natural compounds related to vitamin A called lutein that promote healthy night vision and prevent ‘macular degeneration’- age related eye disease that’s the leading cause of vision loss in the elderly.

Cooking will destroy some the vitamin C in fresh blueberries and lets water-soluble B vitamin leach out.
Vitamin in Blueberries

Blueberries in Canada

2011-01-16T09:34:00.000-08:00

Blueberries grow wild in many parts of the world. Blueberries are mainly important in Canada and the USA.

Other producers include the countries of Scandinavia and eastern Europe. In recent years there has been increased planting in New Zealand, France and UK.

North America farmers grow over 103 million pounds of blueberries a year. Canada and United States supply almost 95% of the total blueberries for the food industry.

Cultivation highbush harvesting begins in the spring in the southern United States and continues in Nova Scotia and British Columbia into October.

Cultivated blueberries grow in clusters and the berries do not ripen all at once. The berries at the bottom of the cluster may be ripe, while the ones on top are still green.

Highbush berries are grown in British Columbia and on much smaller scale in Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes.

Canada is top wild blueberry producer in the world, while Nova Scotia contributes one-quarter of the total amount.

Domestic and international demand for berries is on the rise with increased public awareness of the many health benefits associated with berry consumption, including high fiber content and antioxidant activity.

Canada acreage of cultivated berries has more than double in western Canada during the past decade.

British Columbia is the largest blueberry producer in Canada. About 60 to 70 percent of the blueberries sold in North America are cultivated.

Half of the commercial blueberries are turned into jams, pies and other bakery products and processed food.
Blueberries in Canada

Problems with Berries: Soft and Mushy

2010-08-22T22:40:00.000-07:00

Problems with Berries: Soft and Mushy
It caused by blueberry maggot fly. This insect, closely related to the apple maggot fly. Deposits eggs just under the skin of the fruit from late June to August.

Eggs hatch into fruit-devouring maggots that later drop to the soil and pupate over the winter.

To reduce the number of maggots that pupate in the soil though the next winter, blueberry need to be harvested frequently and destroy any infected berries can be found.

Another control is to trap adult flies on sticky red spheres like the ones used to trap apple maggot flies.

Hang 1 trap per highbush plant or 1 per several lowbush plants before the first berries turn blue.
Problems with Berries: Soft and Mushy

Rabbiteye Blueberry (V. ashei Reade)

2010-07-07T01:01:00.000-07:00

Rabbiteye Blueberry (V. ashei Reade)
This species is native to the river bottoms and swampy, acid soils of southern Georgia and Alabama to northern Florida.

Larger and more vigorous than highbush, the rabbiteye blueberry has a lower chilling requirement (earlier bloom) and generally a longer period from flowering to maturity.

Rabbiteye fruits have a somewhat thicker skin, a larger “button” or sepal scar at the distal end, as well as more (and larger) seeds.

‘Tifblue’, ‘Woodard’, ‘Climax’, ‘Delite’, and ‘Brightblue’ are the mainstay of the industry, but many cultivars are grown commercially.

Production of this species is largely confined to the southeastern United States about 8,000 acres.

Georgia is currently the largest producer of rabbiteye blueberries, with 6,000 acres in the southeastern part of the state allocated for their growth.
Rabbiteye Blueberry (V. ashei Reade)

Blueberries: Health and Nutrition

2010-06-06T19:03:00.000-07:00

Blueberries: Health and Nutrition
The American Indians valued will berries and called them “star berries” because their calyx form a five points star at the blossom of each berry.

Indian legends hold that the “Great Spirit” sent “starberries” to ward off hunger and disease during a great famine.

Researchers at the USDA Human Nutrition Center report that blueberries rank among the highest in antioxidant activity when compared to 40 other fresh fruits and vegetables.

Anthocyanin, the pigment that makes blueberries blue, is believed to play a major role in this antioxidant activity.

Blueberries contain a number of antioxidants. Chief among these includes:

Beta Carotene
Vitamins A and E
Anthocyanins
Ellagic acid
Phenolic compounds
Resveratrol

Pterostilbene, an antioxidant found primarily in blueberry, appear to set up the activity of cells in the liver that reduce the production of cholesterol and other artery-clogging fats.

Owing to their high antioxidant activity, blueberries are reported to:

Slow age related loss in mental capacity
Have a beneficial effect in memory behavioral learning and memory
Improve eyesight and memory in the elderly
Reduce the build up of LDL cholesterol and help prevent cardiovascular disease an stroke
Reduce risk of certain types of cancer
Promote urinary tract health by preventing bacteria for adhering to the cells that line the walls of the urinary tract much in the same way as cranberries

Blueberries are available year around, but the best time to buy them is during the summer months. In order to become a regular part of the diet, it has to taste good. They don’t require much preparation; just rinse them and enjoy. It can be eaten plain or sprinkle a half cup of blueberries on the morning cereal.
Blueberries: Health and Nutrition

Culture of Blueberry

2010-05-07T08:25:00.001-07:00

Culture of Blueberry
Blueberry are deciduous shrubs ranging in height from 1’ for lowbush blueberries (Vaccinium angustifolium) to 6’ for highbush blueberries (V. corymbosum) to over 30’ for rabbiteye blueberries (V. ashei).

The flowers look like dainty white bells and appear in spring on shoots that grew the previous season.

Blueberries are hard in Zones 3-9, depending on species and cultivar.

Blueberries require full sun and well drained, moisture retentive, acidic soil with a pH of 4.0 – 5.0.

Of the 3 species highbush blueberries are the most finicky about soil.

Blueberries generally grow well in soil enriched with acidic organic material, such as peat moss, composted pine needles or oak leaves or compost made from pine, oak or hemlock bark.

Fertilize with acidic fertilizers, such as cottonseed meal or soybean meal. Blueberries enjoy a thick, organic mulch.

Most blueberries are not wholly self-pollinating. Plant at least 2 different cultivars near each other for adequate cross-pollination.

Prune plants each winter, beginning when bushes are about 4 years old. On highbush and rabbiteye plants, remove drooping or very old braches and thin out branches where growth is too dense.

Cut lowbush plants to the ground every third year for a harvest every 2 out of 3 years.
Culture of Blueberry

Northern Highbush Blueberry

2010-04-14T02:46:00.000-07:00

Northern Highbush Blueberry
The main cultivated species of blueberry , its native range is sunny, acidic, swampy areas of eastern North America, from Nova Scotia west to Wisconsin and south to northern Georgia.

Commercial cultivars of highbush blueberry may also have been products of hybridizations with V. australe, especially In southern regions; also with V. lamrckii and V. brittonii in the north; and with V. arkansanum, V. simulatum and V. marianum in the south.

Michigan the leader in highbush blueberry production in United States, grow over 20 cultivars, with ‘Jersey’, ‘Bluecrop’, ‘Elliot’ and ‘Rubel’ making up the four.

The top selling cultivars were ‘Duke’, ‘Sierra’, ‘Nelson’, ‘Bluegold’, ‘Toro’, and ‘Sunrise’.

‘Weymouth’ is grown widely in New Jersey.

The breeding of northern highbush blueberries began in 1911, when Fredrick Coville of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) crossed two blueberry plants selected from the wild in New Hampshire.

On plant, called ‘Brooks’, was V. corymbosum. It was high yielding and produced berries that were unusually large (up to 12 mm in diameter and unusually light blue in color.
Northern Highbush Blueberry

Botany of Blueberry

2010-03-21T06:38:00.000-07:00

Botany of Blueberry
Vaccinium corymbosum, which makes up much of the genetic material of the northern highbush blueberry, belongs to the section Cyannococcus (“cyano” means blue and “coccus” means berry.)

Vaccinium angustifolium, V. myrtillodes and six other species (V. boreale, V. darrowii, V. hirsutum, V. myrsinites, V. pallidum and V. tenellum) also belong to this section.

Vaccinium corymbosum was first named by Linnaeus and is probably combination of three or more species that evolved long ago and produced the variable ‘combination” species that have today.

Vaccinium corymbosum grows wild in eastern North American from Nova Scotia and Quebec in Canada as far west as northeastern Illinois, northern Indiana and the more southerly parts of Michigan.

Its range also extends eastwards to the coast and south into North Carolina, the greatest concentration being in New Jersey.

Here, wild plants grow by the roadside un the federally protected are of the Pinelands, east of Philadelphia and inland from Atlantic City.

They thrive in the dappled shade provided by the pigmy pines and Atlantic white cedars.

They have formed colonies in clearings create by logging and for farming.

Vaccinium pensylvanicum, a ,lowbush blueberry, also grows here and there is evidence of natural hybridization between the species.

Vaccinium corymbosum extends south into the Carolinas and as far as Florida where the picture becomes somewhat blurred since V. ashei, the rabbiteye blueberry, take over.
Botany of Blueberry

Blueberry in general

2010-03-02T19:24:00.001-08:00

Blueberry in general
Blueberries are deciduous shrubs ranging in height from 1’ for low bush blueberries (Vaccinium angustifolium) to 6’ for highbush blueberries (V. corymbosum) to over 30’ for rabbiteye blueberries (V. ashei).

The flowers look like dainty white bells and appear in spring on shoots that grew the previous season.

Blueberries are hardy in Zones 3-9, depending on species and cultivar.
Blueberry in general

Northern highbush Blueberry (V. corymbosum L.)

2010-02-16T19:21:00.000-08:00

Northern highbush Blueberry (V. corymbosum L.)
There are three commercially blueberry species are recognized, along with two interspecific hybrids:
1. Northern highbush blueberry (V. corymbosum L.).
2. Rabbiteye blueberry (V. ashei Reade).
3. Lowbush blueberry (V. angustifolium Air, and V. myrtilloides Michx)
4. Southern highbush blueberry (V. corymbosum hybrids with V. darrowi, V. asheim, and other southern Vaccinium species).
5. Half-high hogbush bleuebrry (V. corymbosum x V. angustifolium).

Northern highbush Blueberry (V. corymbosum L.)
The main cultivated species of blueberry, its native range is sunny acidic, swampy areas of eastern North America, from Nova Scotia west to Wisconsin and south to northern Georgia.

Commercial cultivars of highbush blueberry may also have been products of hybridizations owth V. australe, especially in southern regions; also with V. lamarckii and V. brittonii in the north; and with V. arkansanum, V. simulatum, and V. marianum in the south.

Michigan, the leader in highbush blueberry production in the United States grows over 20 cultivars, with ‘Jersey’, ‘Bluecrop’, ‘Elliot’, and ‘Rubel’ making up the top four.
Northern highbush Blueberry (V. corymbosum L.)

Highbush Blueberries

2010-01-31T06:28:00.001-08:00

Highbush Blueberries
“High bush blueberry” is the name given to cover the taller species of shrub by Vaccinium species that are grown mainly for their fruit crops and it includes the northern highbush rabbiteye and southern highbush blueberries.

The latter are relatively recent hybrid introductions that should not be confused with selections of northern highbush suitable for some of the warmer climate areas of the southern states and that are occasionally called southern highbush blueberries.

As the name implies, highbush blueberries are borne on bushes taller than the lowbush blueberries.

Their cultivars are grown in all the commercial and garden planted blueberry fields or plots around the world where climate and soil conditions are suitable.

There are cultivars that suits climates where winters are long and cold, cultivars that suit much warmer, subtropical regions and others, of course, that suit areas in between these two extremes.

Suitably basically boils down to the “chilling requirements” of the different blueberry groups.

Blueberries require a period of winter dormancy or rest before they will break dormancy and come into growth.

The number of accumulated hours of chilling varies considerably from species to species and cultivar to cultivar.

It is common for plants to receive their requirements met by mid winter but normal winter temperatures keep the plants dormant until spring.

Sometimes bud may start to develop of there are several days of temperatures over 46 degree F on winter which makes them vulnerable when normal winter temperature resume.
Highbush Blueberries

Antioxidant and anthocyanins in blueberry

2010-01-14T17:14:00.000-08:00

Antioxidant and anthocyanins in blueberry
The nutritional composition of the blueberry shows high levels of vitamin C and potassium as was seen also in cranberry.

According to the expert, blueberry anthocyanins are the most complex mixture occurring in a single plant.

Anthocyanin content was found to be significantly correlated with sugar acid ratio and soluble solids acid ratio.

The tyoicalm aroma cimpounds in highbush blueberry were found to be the following:
Hydroxycitronellol
Farnesyl acetate
Farsenol
Myristicin

Temperature, pH, and oxygenation of extracted blueberries have shown effects on antioxidants capacity of blueberry food products.

Extraction of fruit at 60 degree C resulted in higher recovery of anthocyanins and antioxidants capacity and total phenolic contents.

Oxygenation was detrimental to both anthocyanins and antioxidant capacity. In general, products that had experienced less processing had a higher antioxidant capacity.

Volatile compounds in blueberries were followed during stages of maturity.

It was found that linalool levels increased, whereas alpha terpineol and beta caryophyllene decreased during blueberry maturation.
Antioxidant and anthocyanins in blueberry

The Fruit of Blueberries

2009-12-12T20:42:00.000-08:00

The Fruit of Blueberries
The single layered outer epidermis has no stomates and is covered with a cuticle about 5 um thick and a waxy bloom at maturity.

The amount of bloom varies with the cultivar and stage of maturity. Pigments are present in the epidermal and hypodermal layers, which are delineated from the rest of the cortex by a ring of vascular bundles.

The mesocarp is fairly homogenous parenchyma and contains two more rings of vascular bundles.

The carpels contain five large, highly lignified placentas to which up to 65 seeds are attached.

The locules, surrounded by a stoney endocarp, extend into the mesocarp. Stone cells are distributed unevenly throughout the mesocarp, but occur with highest frequency from just blow the epidermis to a depth of about 1.4 mm.

They occur rarely in intercarpellary areas and in sepallary tissue and infrequently in the vascular and in nectariferous tissue.

Mature stone cells usually appear completely vacuolated and have a thick heavily pitted, essentially smooth secondary wall composed of several lamellations, each about 1 um wide.

They are composed mostly of lignin and contain little cellulose. The simple wall pits puts are contagious with pits in adjacent stone cells, or with pit field in adjacent parenchyma walls.
The Fruit of Blueberries

Market and Distribution of Blueberry

2009-11-14T17:27:00.000-08:00

Market and Distribution of Blueberry
With a very large number of independent producers trying to market a product from an area relatively remote from large human population, marketing used to be a major problem.

The method of marketing depends to a great extent on the size of the business.

At one end of the scale there are the “hobby farmers” with an acre or two (less than a hectare) attached to their homes.

At the other end are the “big business boys,” the blueberry barons of the blueberry barrens.

Small farmers with less than 100 acres (40 hectares) have to be more commercially minded.

Some which have blueberries as part of their overall farm income may make enough money to live on, while other need an alternative, additional source of income.

Forestry, fishing and tourism all provide possible sources.

Some manage their own blueberry fields and harvest their own fruit, then sell to to a larger grower with modern sorting, packing and processing facility or to a local cooperative or agent who takes the fruit to the next stage.

Others, particularly older owners or those who need to spend their money and energy doing other things, carry out some of the work themselves but have a contract arrangement with larger growers who do the rest.

In some instances, contractors both manage the fields and take care of harvesting, packing, storage and marketing.

Large growers with hundreds or even thousands of acres carry out all the growing. Harvesting, processing, packing and storage themselves and act for others where required.

With the development of effective methods of freezing and transporting frozen fruit in the 1970s, the market began to expand.

From 1979, Japan became an increasingly important market.

This might seem strange because blueberries, either would or cultivated, had been unrecognized as a food in Japan. However, blueberries with their distinct visual appeal and association with American folklore, soon caught the imagination, and although the trend has turned in favor of the bigger cultivated blueberries, Japan is a major buyer of wild blueberries for processing and pharmaceutical use.
Market and Distribution of Blueberry

Nutritional Value of Blueberry

2009-10-25T16:46:00.000-07:00

Nutritional Value of Blueberry
Some noteworthy regarding the nutrient compositions of the more commonly available blueberry products as follow:

The raw fruit and the unsweetened frozen fruit supply moderate amounts of calories (about 60 kcal per 100 g) and carbohydrates (14 to 15%), They are good sources of fiber, iron and bioflavonoid (vitamin like substance with reputed beneficial effects when consumed along with vitamin C), and fair to good sources of potassium and vitamin C.
Sweetened frozen blueberries contain nearly double the levels of calories and carbohydrates presents on the raw and the unsweetened frozen berries.
Canned blueberries packed in water are low in calories and carbohydrates because they contain only about two thirds the levels of the nutrients that are supplied by the raw fruit.
Canned blueberries packed in heavy syrup contain about two and one half times the calories and carbohydrates that are present in canned berries packed in water alone.
Blueberry pie is rich in calories (242 kcal per 100 g) and carbohydrates (35%). It is a fair source of potassium and iron.
Blueberry turnovers are very rich in calories (405 kcal per 100 g), carbohydrates (41 %) and fats (25 %). They are good sources of iron, but a poor source of potassium and vitamin C.
Apple blueberry fruit puree (commonly sold as a baby food) supplies moderate amount of calories (68 kcal per 100 g) and carbohydrates (16%). It is a good source of vitamin C and a fair course of potassium.
The color blueberries is due mainly to anthocynin pigments, which are also classified as bioflavonoid.

Nutritional Value of Blueberry

Taxonomy

2009-09-30T04:16:00.000-07:00

Taxonomy
Blueberries are members of the Ericaceae (or heath) family, genus Vaccinium, subgenus Cyanococcus.

The genus is very diverse containing 150 to 450 species, mostly found in the tropics at high elevations but also in temperate and boreal regions.

Most species are shrubs similar to the blueberry but again a diverse range of growth forms, from epiphytes to trees, exists.

The Ericaceae family contains several important ornaments: rhododendrons and azaleas (Rhododendron), mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia), heather (Calluna), health (Erica) and leatherleaf (Leucothoe).

Other species of Vaccinium grown for fruit include the following:

Cranberry (V. macrocarpon). The most economically important Vaccinium in the world, cranberry is grown primarily in the northeastern United States. The plant is a creeping rhizomatous, bog species that grows wild in swampy areas.
Huckleberry (V. ovatum –evergreen; V. parvifolium – red; V. ovaliflium – tall mountain; V. deliciosum – low growing mountain). Prized as wildlife species, huckleberry plants provide an edible landscape element and are also used as ground covers. Huckleberry is also classified in the genus Gaylussacia.
Lignonberry (V. vitis-idaea). A creeping evergreen from Northern Europe, this plant produces small, cranberry like fruits.
Bilberry (V. myrtillus), A rhizomatous shrub native to Northern Europe, Russia, Scandinavia and the Pacific Northwest, this plant produces aromatic, purple berries that are collected from the wild and used in jellies, jams and wines.

Lowbush Blueberries

2009-09-10T18:55:00.000-07:00

Lowbush Blueberries
The lowbush blueberries (Vaccinium angustifolium an Vaccinium myrtilloides) seldom grow higher than 0.5 m (1.5 ft).

They are from native stands and are low growing shrubs that spread by underground stems (rhizomes).

Shoots develop form buds on the rhizomes, the roots develop adventitiously and form a dense mat.

The species are native to the northeastern US and Canada, and most of their fruit is harvested from managed, wild stands.

Most lowbush blueberry stands that are commercially harvested are under a 2 year of management where the fields are burned every second year to increased fruit production.

One year wood from rhizomes gives a greater yield than 1 year old wood from 2 year old wood because more buds are produced.

In a “wild” stand 40 to 60 shoots per square meter are desirable to give a yield of approximately 1.5 tons per acre.

Lowbush blueberries are insect pollinated. Because lowbush blueberries are highly self-sterile, it is estimate that pollen from one plant should be available to pollinate flowers of a different genotype.

Harvesting begins when 90% of the fruit is blue in color. The fruit is harvested by a specially designed rake that is combed through shrubs to separate out the fruit. Almost all the fruit is for processing purpose.
Lowbush Blueberries

Shoots of Blueberry

2009-08-29T23:07:00.000-07:00

Shoots of Blueberry
The shoot supports the buds and leaves of the plant and provides for conduction between the leaves and the roots.

Older shoots are called canes.

The blueberry shoot consists of a dense layer of ordered symmetrical epidermal cells surrounding up to a dozen layers of chlorophylous cortical parenchyma tissue containing air canals.

These are surrounded by iso-diametric parenchyma cells attached to each other by thread-like constructions.

Beneath the cortex is the dense pericycle, next to which lies the phloem.

Thick walled parenchyma rays, either broad or uniserate, radiate across the xylem, which also contains thick fibers and long vessels.

The compound, broad rays are made up of both light and dark colored cells.

Spring and autumn wood care not well differentiated.

Simple, thin walled parenchyma compose the pitch.

The young shoot is surrounded by a cuticle that is replaces by periderm (bark) as the stem matures.

The epidermis contains numerous stomates that cork over into lenticels and cease to function as the stem ages. Young stems often have longitudinal ridges, whereas more mature stems are nearly circular in cross-section.
Shoots of Blueberry

Blueberry Yields

2009-07-22T01:36:00.000-07:00

Blueberry Yields
Wild blueberry yields depend on several factors.

They are reduced if the the ripening berries get insufficient water in summer to swell properly.

Winter damage, both in the nonbearing year and to the fruit-bearing plants in the second year of the cycle, happens quite often if there are low temperatures and a high windchill when plants are unprotected by a good snow cover.

Late spring frosts are also lethal to buds that have broken dormancy and started to develop.

Competition from weeds used to be problem but it has largely been eliminated through herbicide use.

Weeds can, however, still affect yields on plots that do not use chemicals and here owners fail to remove weeds manually.
Blueberry Yields

Roots of Blueberry

2009-06-14T06:51:00.000-07:00

Roots of Blueberry
The highbush blueberry has two major types of roots:
1. Pencil-thick storage and anchor roots
2. Fine thread like roots, often only 50 um in diameter

The latter are the feeder roots responsible for nutrient absorption.

The roots are composed of a thin root cap covering the apical meristem.

The cap is somewhat mucilaginous and aids the root’s penetration of the soil while protecting the maristematic tissue.

The meristem tissue undergoes rapid cell division and is responsible in part for adding new cells to the root.

The root structure 12-25 mm behind the apex shows a homogenous cortical region of 3-4 cell layers about 40 um thick.

The cells are simple parenchyma and alternate with one another in successive concentrate layers.

The cortex is surrounded by a poorly developed epidermal layer of symmetrical cell, the outer surfaces of which are convex.

The cortex itself surrounds a single layer of cells called the endodermis, beneath which lies the vascular cylinder, composed of the vascular system and associated parenchyma.

This inner cylinder, also called the stele, is about 30 um in diameter. The blueberry root has no root hairs.

The anatomy of older roots is similar to that of the stem.
Roots of Blueberry

The Wild Blueberry Harvest

2009-05-21T19:57:00.000-07:00

The Wild Blueberry Harvest
August into September is a special time of great activity. The season lasts from four to six weeks, and the berries must be harvest during fine weather while they are dry.

It coincides with school holidays, so many school children and students are able to work on the blueberry fields and earn a good wage.

Plenty of blueberry farms still rely on hand rakers who are paid for piece according to the weight or volume they harvest.

Some pick into a standard box or basket and this is the unit by which they are paid.

Crew bosses supervise the operation in the field and are paid according to the weight picked by the rakers under their charge.

Machine harvesting has become the norm on blueberry barrens or large, relatively level fields with sufficient acreage to justify the capital expenditure. This has been possible since the 1980s when the removal of weeds using herbicides became de rigueur.

All sort of machine have been tried.

One of the most successful and widely accepted of these larger machines is the Bragg harvester.

Mounted alongside a tractor, this harvester operates on the same raking or combing principles as the hand held rakes. It needs just one skilled tractor driver to operate it.

These harvesters enable blueberry growers to harvest their crops more economically and are invaluable where it is difficult to find sufficient people willing and able to harvest the crop by hand for as mutually agreeable rate of pay.

These machines have, however left a large number of Native American workers without their traditional summer jobs.

Most wild blueberries are grown in areas that also rely heavily on tourism especially in Maine. The harvest provides a time of celebration for tourist and local communities alike.

There are blueberry festivals which have a carnival atmosphere with games, procession and other entertainments.

Individual quick frozen (IQF) berries are frozen as they pass though a tunnel though which freezing air pumped as the berries are blown through.

By the time fruit reaches the end of the tunnel it is frozen. From this stage the fruit is either packed ungraded or it is color sorted to remove those that are unripe or other impurities.

Modern laser technology is being used to remove over 99 percent of unwanted material and can cope with more than 8,000 Lbs. (3,600 kg) an hour passing down the line.

Rejected fruit is blown out by a steam of air form a jet ejector, which is activated as the laser detects it.

IQF fruit has a shelf life of two years when stored in a suitable freezer. Bulk freezing of clean-washed, air dried fruit without using IQF methods results in a pack with mixed quality fruit, much of which has frozen as a mass instead of an individual berries, but it is suitable for sale to some processors for juice production.
The Wild Blueberry Harvest

Blueberry: Highbush and Rabbiteye

2009-04-16T21:05:00.000-07:00

Blueberry: Highbush and Rabbiteye
The blueberry belongs to the Ericaceae family, subfamily Vacciniaceae. Blueberries are found in many areas of the world but have gained greatest acceptance in the US and Canada.

The true blueberries belong to the ancient genus Vaccinium, subgenus Cyanococcus.

The blueberry has specific requirements regarding climate and soil.

The blueberry is a many seeded berry with small, soft seeds that allows it to be accepted by consumers who do not find the seeds objectionable.

Blueberries are a fast growing fruit crop with the fruit maturing 2 to 3 months after flowering.

After reaching its permanent color, the blueberry changes little in size and continues it improve in flavor and sweetness.

There are both wild and cultivated blueberry species. Blueberry varieties originate form the hybridization and breeding of native wild species.

Blueberry varieties are classified as early, early midseason, midseason, late season and late season according to time of maturity.

The cultivated blueberries are highbush and rabbiteye. The blueberry harvested commercially but not cultivated is the lowbush.

The highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum and Vaccinium australe) range in height from 1.5 to 7 m (5 to 23 ft) and like sunny, acidic areas with a pH between 4 and 5.

These blueberries are shallow-rooted plants and are characterized by the lack of root hairs.

These fine, fibrous roots require an open, porous soil for ease of growth. Blueberry roots are associated with mycorrhizal fungi in the soil that aid the plant in nutrient in nutrient absorption.

These blueberries usually require 6 to 8 years to reach full production. Fruit for use in the fresh market is hand-harvested while machine harvested fruit goes mainly to the processing market.

Major production areas are Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Arkansas, Washington, Oregon, British Columbia, Canada, Europe, New Zealand and Australia.

The rabbiteye blueberry (Vaccinium ashei) can attain heights of approximately 10 m (33 ft) and re extremely vigorous, productive types with fruit similar to that of the highbush cultivars.

Rabbiteye are not winter hardy, but are drought tolerant. In the US, they are grown primarily in the southeastern areas.

It has a short chilling requirement, tolerant to a relative wide soil pH range and high temperatures.

Result suggest fertilization and fruit set of pollinated rabbiteye blueberries can be greatly impaired by even mild freezes (-1 to -2 degree C), whereas, appropriately timed applications of gibberallic acid can result in little reduction in fruit set even after moderate freezes ( -3 to -4 degree C) of blueberries during bloom.

This fruit can be hand or machine harvested.
Blueberry: Highbush and Rabbiteye

Blueberries Family

2009-03-25T07:20:00.000-07:00

Blueberries Family
Blueberries (family, Ericaceae; genus, Vaccinium) are indigenous to North America.

The Vaccinium genus consists of many species, which have edible fruits.

Like bilberry (V. myrtillus), cranberry (V. macrocarpon), lingonberry (V. oxycoccus), and huckleberry (V. ovatum and V. vaccillans), blueberries are valued fruits.

Native American enjoyed fresh blueberries and also dried them for use with other foods.

They are believed to use blueberry roots and leaves as medicine.

A tea made from blueberry leaves was considered good for blood and blueberry juice was used to treat cough.

These early insights and experiences about health benefits of blueberries are now being corroborated.

Experts showed that blueberry leaves have higher phenolic and antioxidants values than the fruit tissues. In laboratory studies, dried extract of blueberries having high antioxidants reversed signs of aging.

Other studies have shown that specific wild blueberry extracts may have anti-adhesion and chemopreventive properties.

Thus, the blueberries are emerging as a functional fruit for improving health and quality of life.
Blueberries Family

History of Selection and Improvement

2009-02-24T21:14:00.001-08:00

History of Selection and Improvement
During the 1890s, various plant scientists in Maine, Michigan, New York, Rhode Island, and other areas made limited efforts to select and transplant particularly good wild bushes for commercial production.

None of these was successful.

Recognizing both the potential widespread commercial value of the blueberry and the demand for the fruit on the Boston market, Dr. Frederick V. Coville, a botanist with the United States Department of Agriculture, began extensive research on the plant in 1906.

He joined forces with the commercial grower who had been instructing her workers to select and transplant especially good will blueberry plants from the wetlands surrounding her bog.

After discovery the plants’ soil requirements, Dr. Coville de devoted another two years to their culture from seed to fruit and investigated methods of propagating and pollinating the bushes.

In 1908, the first wild highbush blueberry plant for breeding purpose was selected in Greenfield, New Hampshire and named ‘Brooks.’

By the time of his death in 1937, Dr. Coville had propagated over 68,000 seedlings, from which he had selected and introduced 15 improved cultivars (some of them third generation hybrids).

Coville and others realized that interspecific crosses could readily be made between species with the same chromosome number (homoploids).

He recorded successful hybrids between Vaccinium stamineum L. (deerberry) and V. myrtilloides Mich. as well as between V. melanocarpum Mohr. and V. myrtilloides Mich.

The discovery of interspecific hybridization permitted plant breeders to combine desirable traits (such as cold hardiness, higher sugar content, and drought tolerance) of several species into a single plant.

Interspecific hybridization ensures the diversification not only of the blueberry industry but also of the gene pool available to growers.

This diversification is nature’s way of guaranteeing that no single natural calamity will obliterate blueberry production.

To extend the range of blueberry production into northern areas, breeders following Dr. Coville’s lead have crossed the highbush with the lowbush species to reduce plant height, thus taking advantage of insulating snow cover, while at the same time increasing fruit size.

Many of the progeny also have flexible canes that bend but do not break, under snow.

The half highs are often twiggy and strongly rhizomatous, and they may spread out of their rows when planted too far south.
History of Selection and Improvement

Use of Chemical

2009-02-02T04:26:00.000-08:00

Use of Chemical
Controlling weeds using chemicals is very widespread. The introduction of the herbicide Velpar in 1982 (in Canada) or 1983 (in the United States) is credited with being the single most important reason for the increase in yields of wild blueberries during the second half of the 1980s.

Applied in the spring following pruning, it proved very effective in killing almost all the weeds competing with the crop, including those that bear berries that would become mixed in with the blueberries and spoil the picked product.

In addition to reducing competition and allowing the wild blueberries space to gradually spread into spaces formerly occupied by weeds, chemically based weed control has also meant that fertilizer can be used more effectively.

Instead of encouraging the weeds to flourish above all else, the minerals go exclusively into the roots of the blueberries, which in turn increases the plant’s growth in this first year of the biennial cycle.

It is in the first year that the framework for the production of flowers – and therefore the fruit in the following year – is established.

Growth starts in April and if a balanced fertilizer is used, it is applied just before then. Blueberries that are left unpruned are in the second year of the cycle.

They will yield fruit provided there has been damaged to the dormant buds at the tips of the previous year’s growth during the winter, and provided late frosts do not damage the potential flowers as they develop from those buds.

As might be expected, pest and disease problems occur in areas where there is a concentration of a single species. Mummyberry may appear and this can be controlled using an approved fungicide as the blueberry buds break into life in spring on the areas due to crop.

Blueberry spanworm can be a problem and this pest is controlled by using a biological method.

A spray containing a bacterium (bacillus thuringiensis) destroys the moth “worms” or larvae. Unlike most insecticides, it is harmless to bees. If larvae of the blueberry fruit fly is burrowing into the fruit and spoiling its quality, then an insecticide spray may have to be used.

The timing of the application of this spray is crucial because it has to kill the pest while leaving no residue by the time the fruit is ripe and ready for harvest.
Use of Chemical

Nutrition in Blueberries

2009-01-10T20:54:00.000-08:00

Nutrition in Blueberries
Compared with other fruits, blueberries are an excellent source of iron, a fair source of vitamin A, about average in protein, fat, carbohydrate, calories and calcium and low in phosphorus.

Fresh blueberries are reasonably good sources of vitamin C, but European work indicates that vitamin C is lost after cold storage of a few months, and that vitamin C content measurement in blueberries should include with both ascorbic acid and dehydroascorbic acid for accuracy.

The common frozen and canned products are often insipid in flavor compared to the products. The breeder thus has an opportunity to select for clones with high and durable vitamin and mineral content and flavor.

As the culture of blueberries expends, the breeder may have to select clones that are specifically suited for either processor or fresh consumption.

It may be difficult to obtain cultivars with high quality for both uses.
Nutrition in Blueberries

Blueberries During Colonization Era

2008-12-27T05:50:00.000-08:00

Blueberries During Colonization Era
Many species of blueberries were plentiful before and during the European colonization of North America, and these were held in high esteem by natives. According to legend, the Great Spirit sent the “star berries” to relieve famine. The berries were so named because of their star-shaped calyx.

Anne Pollard, the 12 years old puritan who was the first ashore after the 1630 landing, wrote that Boston’s Beacon Hill was covered with blueberries.

Josselyn, a New England traveler of the early 1600s, called numerous “Skycoloured” berries a most excellent summer dish that the colonists ate in milk and sweetened worth sugar and spice.

Kalm, Champlain, and other early travelers into the hinterlands of America recorded that the colonists learned from the natives to sun-dry fruit for winter use in puddings, cakes, bread and pemmican.

As a display of generosity and honor, the Iroquois offered fresh blueberry corn bread to the white settlers.

Rather than relying upon uncertain sunlight, natives along the foggy, rainy Northwest pacific coast smoke-dried their blueberries. Today’s fruitcakes and breads are direct descendants of those native favorites.

Fruit of related species are utilized around the world. Spaniards enjoy their native, black, juicy, Maderia whortleberry.

In Jamaica, the sour, red Jamaica bilberry is widely used to make a jelly. The berries of mortima appear on local market in Ecuador and Colombia. The Highlanders of Scotland eat their blueberries in milk or tarts.

Other parts of the highbush blueberry plant were also utilized by both colonists and natives, the leaves, when chewed yield a drug known as vaccinium; a tea made from the leaves and fruit was remedy for diarrhea and suppressed menstruation. Infusions of the flowers and rhizomes were used to treat infant colic, to induce labor and to purify the blood. The strong flexible wood made excellent tool handles.
Blueberries During Colonization Era

Blueberry in Botany

2008-12-19T07:47:00.000-08:00

Blueberry in Botany
Linnaeus grouped all plants into the plant kingdom Plantae, to separate them from animals. The blueberry is further classed with all plant producing flowers and seeds into the division Spermatophyta. The flower has an ovary, thus placing it in the class Angiospermae, and its seedling has two leaves, putting it in the subclass Dicotyledonae.

It is member of the Ericaceae family of plants comprising mostly woody shrubs that grow naturally on acid soils. This is a large family and is found widely distributed throughout the world. It includes, among others, the rhododendrons, azaleas, heathers, heaths, and mountain laurels.

The blueberry belongs to the subfamily Vacciniaceae; the tribe Vaccinieae; the genus Vaccinium; and the subgenus Cyanococcus (from Greek cyano (‘blue”) and coccus (berry).

There are many species. The terms “genus’ (pl. genera) and “species” are most commonly used when discussing plants horticulturally. The first letter of the genus name is always capitalized; the first letter of the species name is lower case. Both are italicized or underlined. Among growers, species are rarely mentioned, but a more specific term, “cultivar,” is common.

The highbush blueberry ranges from 5 – 23 ft in height. The cultivated highbush blueberry was developed primarily from two species: V. corymbosum L. and V. australe Small, though other species have been utilized in modern breeding programs. The letter, name or abbreviated name following the species refers to the person who first named it (e.g., “L” is the abbreviation for Linnaeus).

Wild plants are distributed in sunny, acidic and swampy areas from Nova Scotia and southern Quebec west to Wisconsin and south to northern Florida and southeastern Alabama. Wild southern populations are comprised primarily of V. australe Small, whereas V. corymbosum L. occurs in more northerly areas. Because of rampant hybridization, these species have intermingled and crossed with a half dozen other economically minor species, thus giving rose to various intermediate forms.
Blueberry in Botany

Nutritional value of Blueberries

2008-12-08T07:45:00.001-08:00

Nutritional value of Blueberries
The raw fruit and the unsweetened frozen fruit supply moderate amounts of calories (about 60 kcal per 100 g) and carbohydrates (14 to 15%). They are good sources of fiber, iron and bioflavonoid and fair to good sources of potassium and vitamin C.

Sweetened frozen blueberries contain nearly double the levels of calories and carbohydrates present in the raw and the unsweetened frozen berries. Furthermore, a given weight of the sweetened product furnishes less of the other nutrients than equal amounts of the unsweetened products.

Canned blueberries packed in water are low in calories and carbohydrates because they contain only about two thirds the levels of the nutrients that are supplied by the raw fruits.

Canned blueberries packed in heavy syrup contain about two and one half times the calories and carbohydrates that are present in canned berries packed in water alone.

Blueberry pie is rich in calories (242 kcal per 100g) and carbohydrates (35%). It is a fair source of potassium and iron.

Blueberry turnovers are very rich in calories (405 kcal per 100g), carbohydrates (41% and fats (255). They are a good source of iron, but a poor source of potassium and vitamin C.

Apple blueberry fruit puree (commonly sold as a baby food) supplies moderate amounts of calories (68 kcal per 100 g) and carbohydrates (165). It is a good source of vitamin C and a fair course of potassium.
Nutritional value of Blueberries

Blueberries as Herbal Medicine

2008-11-15T08:03:00.000-08:00

Blueberries as Herbal Medicine
Blueberries have a rich folkloric history as an herbal medicine. At one time, a tea made by steeping the roots of the blueberry bush was thought to calm women during childbirth. Native Americans credited blueberry juice and syrup a cure for coughs. Scandinavians used dried blueberries to treat children with diarrhea.

Lately scientific evidence emerging from labs all over the country tells us that blueberries are potent little disease warriors. These blue beauties are packed with powerful antioxidants called anthocyanins – the pigment that makes them blue – and other flavonoids, including condensed tannins. In fact, when compared with the antioxidants in dozens of other fruits and vegetables, those in blueberries have a greatest capacity to destroy unstable oxygen molecules called free radicals. Without antioxidants, free radicals careen around the body attacking cells and causing damage that paves the way for cancer and heart disease. Antioxidants also may hamper the build-up of LDL cholesterol and reduce the risk of blood clots that cause strokes.
Blueberries as Herbal Medicine

Health Benefit of Blueberries on Eyesight

2008-10-30T17:19:00.000-07:00

Health Benefit of Blueberries on Eyesight
For centuries, blueberries have been esteemed in folklore, both as foods and as medicines. Native Americans consumed the leaves, roots, and fruits of high bush blueberries to cure certain aliments.

Ten years ago, Japanese researchers demonstrated the usefulness of blueberries in improving weak eyesight and lessening eye fatigue. Majority of Japanese people were aware of the eyesight benefits derived form blueberry consumption.

Europeans have long consumed bilberries, a variety of blueberries, as part of their diet, especially for eye health. A pigment in bilberries contains anthocyanins, the potent antioxidants that are thought to contribute to eye health. During World War II, pilots in the Royal Air Force ate bilberries. The pilot found that the blueberries helped their night vision when they conducted nighttime bombings.

The wild variety of blueberries harvested commercially in Maine and eastern Canada showed the greatest amount of antioxidant activity. Those berries are smaller than cultivated ones. The flavor of the wild berries was found to be more intense, and the nutrient content wild blueberries (without added sugar) matched the nutrient content of fresh blueberries.

Investigations of blueberry to eye health have found that blueberry consumption increase circulation of the capillaries of the eyes, which reduces oxidation in these tissues, this action benefits eyesight. It is thought to be especially helpful in preventing diabetic retinopathy, as well as night blindness, macular degeneration and cataracts.

Constituents in blueberries also are thought to strengthen all other capillaries, arteries, and veins and to reduce capillary fragility and permeability in conditions such as varicose veins. Also, it is thought that blueberries inhibit enzymes that may promote cancer; reduce histamine production and act as anti-inflammatory nutrient to connective tissue.
Health Benefit of Blueberries on Eyesight

Blueberries: Highbush, Rabbit Eye, and Lowbush

2008-10-14T20:45:00.000-07:00

Blueberries: Highbush, Rabbit Eye, and Lowbush
The Blueberry belongs to the Ericaceae family, subfamily Vacciniaceae. Blueberries are found in many areas of the world but gained greatest acceptance in the United States and Canada, the true blueberries belong to the ancient genus Vaccinium, subgenus Cyanococcus.

The blubbery has specific requirements regarding climate and soil. The blueberry is a many seed berry with small, soft seeds that allows it to be accepted by consumers who do not find the seeds objectionable. After reaching its permanent color, the blueberry changes little in size and continues to improve in flavor and sweetness.

There are both wild and cultivated blueberry species. Blueberry varieties originate form hybridization and breeding of native wild species. Blueberry varieties are classified as early, early midseason, midseason, late midseason and late season according to time of maturity. The cultivated blueberries are highbush and rabbiteye. The blueberry harvested commercially but not cultivated in the lowbush.

Highbush Blueberry
The highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum and Vaccinium australe) range in height from 1.5 to 7 m (5 to 23 ft) and like sunny, acidic areas with a pH between 4 and 5. These blueberries are shallow-rooted plants and are characterized by the lack of root hairs. These fine, fibrous roots require an open, porous soil for ease of growth. Blueberry roosts are associated with mycorrhizal fungi in the soil that aid the plant in nutrient absorption. These blueberries usually require 6 to 8 years to reach full production. Fruit for use in the fresh market is hand harvested while machine harvested fruit goes mainly to the processing market. Major production areas are Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Arkansas, Washington, Oregon, British Colombia, Canada, Europe, New Zealand and Australia.

Rabbiteye Blueberry
The rabbiteye blueberry (Vaccinium ashei) can attain heights of approximately 10 m (33 ft) and are extremely vigorous, productive types with fruit similar to the of highbush cultivars. Rabbiteyes are not winter hardy, but are drought tolerant. In the United States they are grown primarily in the southeastern areas. It has a short of chilling requirement, tolerant to a relatively wide soil pH range and high temperature. Results suggest fertilization and fruit set of pollinated rabbiteye blueberries can greatly impaired by even mild freezes (-1 to -2 degree C), whereas, appropriately timed application of gibberallic acid can result in little reduction in fruit set even after m0derate freezers (-3 to – 4 degree C) of blueberries during bloom. This fruit can be hand or machine harvested.

Lowbush Blueberry
The lowbush blueberries (Vaccinium angustifolium and Vaccinium myrtilloides) seldom grown higher than 0.5 (1.5 ft). They are from native stands and low growing shrubs that spread by underground stems (rhizomes). Shoots develop from buds on the rhizomes, the roots develop adventitiously and form a dense mat. These species are natives to the northeastern United States and Canada, and most of their fruit is harvested from managed, wild stands. Most lowbush blueberry stands that are commercially harvested are under a 2 year cycle of management where the fields are burned every second year to increase fruit production. One year wood from rhizomes gives a greater yield than 1 year old wood from 2 year old wood because more buds are produced. In a wild stand, 40 to 60 shoots per square meter are desirable to give a yield of approximately 1.5 tons per acre. Lowbush blueberries are insect pollinated. Because lowbush blueberries are highly self-sterile, it is essential that pollen form one plant should be available to pollinate flowers of a different genotype. Harvesting begins when 90% of the fruit is blue in color. The fruit is harvested by a specially designed rake that is combed through shrubs to separate out of the fruit. Almost all the fruit is for processing purposes.
Blueberries: Highbush, Rabbit Eye, and Lowbush

Growing Blueberries

2008-10-05T23:07:00.000-07:00

Growing Blueberries
The annual growth is usually based in biennial cropping of a given are of the operation. In late fall or early winter, as soon as the blueberry plants are dormant, the chosen plots are “pruned,” either by mowing or burning. These areas will not yield fruit the following year, but the process is meant to encourage healthy vegetative growth, to help control competing weeds and to kill harmful pests and diseases.

Most growers have small areas that are frequently on hilly land that is often also rocky, so burning is the only option. Straw or hay is spread over the field either with a tractor-drawn straw layer or by hand if the area is not accessible by tractor. The straw or hay is then is set on fire with then intention of burning both it and the aerial parts of all plants growing in the area. Tractor-drawn burners are used to control burning where possible.

Controlling weeds using chemicals is very widespread. Applied in the spring following pruning, it proved very effective in killing almost all the weeds that competing with the crop, including those that bear berries that would become mixed in with the blueberries and spoil the picked product.

In addition to reducing competition and allowing the wild blueberries space to gradually spread into spaces formerly occupied by weeds, chemically based weed control has also meant that fertilizer can be used more effectively. Instead encouraging the weeds to flourish above all else, the minerals go exclusively into the roots of the blueberries, which in turn increases the plant’s growth in this first year of the biennial cycle. It is in the first year that the framework for the production of flowers – and therefore the fruit in the following year – is established.

Once blueberries start flowering in early May, many growers put hives of honeybees into the areas to help pollination. However, as with highbush blueberries it is the wild, solitary bees that are most active as pollinators. Some growers are able to provide irrigation for their wild blueberries during spells of dry weather to allow the fruits to keep swelling.
Growing Blueberries

Health benefits of Blueberries

2008-09-26T18:52:00.000-07:00

Health benefits of Blueberries
Blueberries are a good source of fiber and vitamins C. Blueberries are fat free and, at about forty calories per half-cup serving, they are low in calories. Which each bite of these midnight blue pearls, your body gets a generous dose of good health.

Blueberries have a rich folkloric history as an herbal medicine. At one time, a tea made by steeping the roots of the blueberry bush was thought to calm women during childbirth. Native American credited blueberry juice and syrup as a cure for coughs. Scandinavian used fried blueberries to treat children with diarrhea.

Lately, blueberries have been called ‘Miracle Berries,’ ‘Super Food and ‘Fruit of The Year.’ That’s because scientific evidence emerging from labs all over the country tells that blueberries are potent little disease warrior. These blueberries are packed with powerful antioxidants called anthocyanins – the pigment that makes them blue – and other flavonoids, including condensed tannins. When compared with the antioxidants in dozen of other fruits and vegetables, those in blueberries have the greatest capacity to destroy unstable oxygen molecules called free radicals. Without antioxidants, free radicals careen around the body attacking cells and causing damage, then paves the way for cancer and heart disease. Antioxidants also may hamper the build-up of LDL – (low density lipoproteins) cholesterol and reduce the risk of blood clots that cause strokes.

Free radicals also cause brain cells to age more quickly, which can lead to memory loss as well as impaired balance and coordination. In animal studies that anthocyanins in blueberries might help the brain stay young and resist the slowdown typically associated with aging. They may even reverse short term memory loss.

The juicy orbs contain more than forty compounds, such as ellagic acid, thought to prevent cancer. Blueberries also may improve night vision and ward off molecular degeneration, a condition that can lead to blindness. In addition, researchers have found that blueberries, like cranberries, contain a substance called proanthocycanidin, or condensed tannin, that world to keep the urinary tract healthy and free of infection. Proanthocycanidins make harmful bacteria so slippery that they are swept out of the body in the urine before they can stick to the urethra or bladder and cause an infection.
Health benefits of Blueberries

Early Cultivation of Blueberries

2008-09-19T21:50:00.001-07:00

Early Cultivation of Blueberries
American Indians have gathered the fruit for centuries and still contribute considerably to the harvest. It was they who introduced the practice of burning to control encroaching shrubs, trees and other unwanted “weeds” and to kill the pests and disease that invade the blueberry patches.

This method was very discriminating and the European settlers arriving in Maine found a wild, desolate landscape, often with many thousands of acres charred and apparently barren, In Washington County, Maine, the first area of land was officially designated a “barren” in 1796. This term is now widely used to describe such wild, open spaces and “blueberry barrens” refer to the area with large patches of lowbush blueberries. It was soon apparent that blueberries thrived under these burning practices and anybody who wanted to could descend on the barrens to harvest the berries for their own use and later resale. By the end of the eighteenth century, most of the land was owned by settlers but others could still freely access it. The freeloaders continued with their indiscriminate burning, which not only increased the area where blueberries thrived but also did considerable damage to the land.

A stumpage fee was introduced in 1871, a levy that was collected from anyone gathering wild blueberries and that was designed to compensate landowners and to reduce indiscriminate burning. Larger landowners began to lease out areas of land to control production and harvesting and that was the beginning of modern management of wild blueberries.

Two innovations that occurred in the mid of 1800s stand out. The first was the introduction of canning, which began in the 1860s out the need to feed Federal troops of the Union Army during Civil War. Canning undoubtedly helped to increase the demand for wild blueberries, and many tons were shipped out by boats form small poets along the Maine coastline. The building of the railways changed that, however, and by 1899 the Washington County Railroad transported virtually all blueberry fruit and blueberry products out of the area.

The second innovations occurred in 1883. As can be appreciated, picking the small berries individually and by hand is a lengthy and tedious business and one that becomes increasingly uneconomic. The blueberry rake invented by Abijah W. Tabbut, revolutionized the whole business of wild blueberry hosting.
Early Cultivation of Blueberries

The Wild Blueberries

2008-09-09T15:51:00.000-07:00

The Wild Blueberries
There are two kinds of wild or lowbush blueberries to consider Vaccinium angustifolium and V.myrtilloides. In North America most are V. angustifolium Aiton, but V.myrtilloides also occurs in some area soften near or among V. angustifolium. Vaccinium angustifolium is known as sweet lowbush blueberries, though when it is being marketed it is called “wild blueberry” to avoid confusion with the cultivated highbush blueberries. It is a dwarf, woody, usually deciduous shrub that is found growing in a wide range of areas such as high moors, exposed rocky outcrops, abandoned pastures and bogs and among pine or oak trees. The soil pH where it grows ranges from 2.8 to 6.0 and may be peaty or sandy. It is a species that tolerates a wide range of temperatures.

Vaccinium angustifolium forms a spreading mat from underground rhizomes that can spread for up to 35 ft. Uprights 12 to 18 in. high grow at intervals from nodes on the horizontal rhizomes. The twigs bear elliptic or narrowly elliptic leaves that are ¼ to 2/3 in. wide to 2/3 to 16 in. long, usually with toothed or serrate margins. Their summer color is green, sometimes with a bluish or glaucous cast, and they change to a vivid red or orange in the fall before dropping. Flower bud initiation occurs in midsummer of the previous year with flower parts undergoing initial development with flower buds, which can be identified by end of August. The bud rest through the winter until activity starts inside them, unseen, as temperatures begin increasing in March. Active growth becomes obvious in April.

Bell shaped flowers are borne in loose clusters. They mature in May and are typically white, though sometime tinges pink. They are about ¼ in, long, with a glaucous or glabrous calyx and pedicel and very occasionally pubescent or covered with a soft down. The fruit, which is quite variable in color and size, may be a dull or glossy black, although those with a good bloom appear blue. The berries may be ¼ to ½ in. in diameter. They ripen from late July in southern Maine, with the last ripen occurring in late September in Newfoundland.
The Wild Blueberries

How to make Blueberry Jam

2008-08-29T05:35:00.000-07:00

How to make Blueberry Jam
Adding a small amount of lemon juice to blueberry jam heightens the flavor of the berries, giving the jam an extra pizzazz. Judges have remarks on the great color, flavor and texture.

Frozen blueberry may also be used for this recipe. A 16 ounce bag of frozen blueberries will yield about 2 cups of crushed fruits.

Makes about 9 half pint jars

5 cups crushed fresh, ripe blueberries
2 tablespoons strained fresh lemon juice
7 cups sugar
½ teaspoon unsalted butter
2 (3 ounce) pouches liquid pectin
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)

In an 8 quart pan, combine the blueberries, lemon juice, sugar and butter. Over medium low heat, stirring constantly, heat the mixture until the sugar is completely dissolved. Increase the heat to medium high and bring the mixture to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Stir in the entire contents of both pectin pouches. Return the mixture to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Boil, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat. Skim off anyfoam. Stir in the cinnamon, if desired.

To prevent the jam from separating in the jars, allows the jam to cool 5 minutes before filling the jars. Gently stir the jam every minute or so to distribute the fruit. Ladle the hot jam into hot jars, leaving ¼ inch headspace. Wipe the jar rims and threads with clean, damp cloth. Cover with the hot lids and apply screw rings. Process half pint jars in a 200F water bath for 10 minutes, pint jars for 15 minutes.
How to make Blueberry Jam

Blueberry: Fruit Characteristics

2008-07-31T06:31:00.000-07:00

Blueberry: Fruit Characteristics
Fruit size is quite large for a wild Vaccinium, especially a diploid species. The general range in fruit diameters is from 5mm to 16mm, with occasional plants with fruit 19mm in diameter. Fruit size is positively correlated with number of developing seeds, and potentially viable seed number range from 5 to 29 per berry determined that plants with the largest fruit average occur in the Lexington Country, South Carolina and the coastal North Carolina/South Carolina border area.

The color of mature fruit is extremely variable, ranging from greenish-white, yellowish, light red, dark red, blue, purple-blue, purple black, reddish black, to dark purple. The surface of the fruit may be either glaucous or glabrous, and galaucousness on the fruit is generally correlated with galaucousness on vegetative parts. Fruits from plants in the South Carolina sandhill region were the most glaucous.

Fruits of V.stamineum typically have some bitterness in the skin, although the degree of bitterness and sweetness is quite variable. Fruits from the South Carolina sandhill region found to were the most palatable. Fruits typically drop to the ground as soon as they ripen and since the calyx tube is continues with the pedicel, the pedicel remains attached to the fruit.
Blueberry: Fruit Characteristics

Processing of Cranberries

2008-07-12T19:37:00.000-07:00

Processing of Cranberries
At the processing plant, cranberries are cleaned in fanning mills, then dropped some distance to eliminate soft or rotten specimens (the defective berries do not bounce, those suitable for food bounce up over a barrier), then washed, first in acid or alkaline solutions to remove spray residues, then in water. Determining is carried out in a rotating vegetable peeler fitted with a smooth bottom plate.

Cranberries handled as fresh are packed in paper fined wooden boxes, and the product is slowly cooled to 36 – 40 degree F. Cranberries should be held at 36 - 40 degree F until sold to the consumer. At this temperature, cranberries have a storage life of several months. Cranberries may be held frozen prior to the manufacture of jelly or sauce. They are placed in large metal containers, frozen, in bulk in cold-air rooms, and held in this condition until defrosted for purposes of preparing cooked products.
Processing of Cranberries

Cranberries in United States

2008-06-12T10:48:00.000-07:00

Cranberries in United States
In the United States, commercial cranberries production is carried out mostly in Massachusetts, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Washington, and Oregon. There are a number of commercial varieties of cranberries growth in swamp lands or under similar conditions. A period of about 4 years is required from planting to the first harvesting period.

Since blossoms develop in the spring and are susceptible to frost damage, and the plants are susceptible to freezing damage, bogs where the berries are grown may have to be flooded with water, as a protection against cold damage. Diesel oil or chemical may be used top control weeds and moss is cranberry bogs. For harvesting cranberries, the bogs may be flooded with water to float berries, which can then be shaken off by machine and collected from the water. In other instances, the bogs are not flooded; the berries are stripped from the vines mechanically and collected on catching frame.
Cranberries in United States

Filling Blueberries

2008-05-08T23:59:00.000-07:00

Filling Blueberries
Frozen blueberries are generally used in the production of pie filling, pastries, and jam. Some are packed in retail-sized plastic pouches and sold as such as retail. The usual procedure is to freeze the cleaned and inspected berries trays that are placed on racks and move through a cold-air tunnel.

The frozen berries are then run through a machine that breaks up clusters of the frozen fruit and the frozen product is packed volumetrically into metal cans holding about 20lb (9.1 kg) of berries.

The cans are closed with slip covers and placed in frozen storage. Some frozen berries may be mixed with dry sugar (4 parts berries to 1 part sugar) or with 50% sugar solution, placed in large metal slip cover containers, and frozen in bulk in cold –air rooms.
Filling Blueberries

Canned Blueberries

2008-04-11T04:41:00.000-07:00

Canned Blueberries
Blueberries can be canned, mainly used for pie fillings, are cleaned and inspected, placed in cans, and the cans are then filled with water or with a 10-30% sugar solution. The open cans are the exhausted or heated in free-flowing steam for 10 minutes, and finally sealed and heated for short periods in boiling water.
Canned Blueberries

The history of blueberry

2008-02-20T19:31:00.000-08:00

The history of blueberry
According to Native American bluebery is good for health. It helps the woman during childbirth, the tea leaves were good for kidneys and the juice was good for cough. Native American also dried his leave in sun and ground it into powder and us it to make pudding and it was used to season the meat.

Among the first American settlers who saw how American Indian used blueberries was Samuel de Champlain. He saw that the Native American grounded the leave to powder then mixed with corn and honey then water to make a pudding. The settlers also found that the Indians smoked wild blueberries during winter to preserve them.

The Native American tribes revered blueberries and folklore developed around them. The blossom end of each berry, the calyx, forms the shape of a perfect five-pointed star; the elders of the tribe would tell of how the Great Spirit sent "star berries" to relieve the children's hunger during a famine.
The history of blueberry

Blueberries in United States

2007-12-03T07:07:00.000-08:00

Blueberries in United States
Blueberries are harvested from both wild plants and cultivated varieties. In the United sates, blueberry cultivation is mainly in New Jersey, Michigan and North Carolina.

Blueberry bushes require an acid soil and yield fruit the fist year after planting or the first year after the plants has established growth.

There are many varieties of both high and low bush blueberries. The fruit of blueberry ripens 50-65 days after the blossom occur at the mill where small twigs and leaves are separated by air.

They are then graded for size, washed in a flotation-type washer, and passed over an inspection belt where green or partially ripe specimens are picked out by hand.

Blueberries handled as the fresh product are usually hand-poured into small baskets holding 473ml or 946 ml. the baskets are then overwrapped with cellophane and the product is held at refrigerator temperatures above freezing.

Fresh blueberries should be cooled to 32F – 35F and held at this temperature until sold to the consumer. Shelf life 4 – 8 weeks.
Blueberries in United States

Blueberry and Health

2007-09-29T22:34:00.000-07:00

Blueberry and Health
Scientists have discovered many health benefits from eating blueberries. They are one of the richest sources of antioxidants of the fruits and vegetables that have been studied. Antioxidants are responsible in part for keeping us healthily and young. They help fight cell damaging "free radicals". Free radicals are unstable substances that our bodies produce as we get older. They damage human cells and our DNA.

US scientists have shown that the antioxidants contained in Blueberries help to slow th ageing process and reduce the risk of cancer. The antioxidants are contained in "Anthocyanins" (Greek word meaning "plant" and "blue") these are the reason why Blueberries are Blue ! They are responsible for the Blue colour of the fruit.

Strawberries and Spinach also contain high levels of antioxidants. Chemical studies in the US by the Agricultural Research Service have very recently revealed that Blueberries (as well as strawberries and raspberries) contain chemicals that decreased the growth of cervical and breast cancer cells by a considerable percentage.

Blueberries have also found to contain resveratrol, another potential anti-cancer agent.
Blueberry and Health

Blueberry

2007-09-29T22:32:00.000-07:00

The genus Vaccinium L. includes approximately 400 species, which are concentrated in the montane tropics but extend to all continents except Australia.

It is a high value crop which can thrive on acidic, imperfectly drained sandy soils, once conspired worthless for agriculture crop production.

Blueberry fruits are round and slightly flattened in shape. Blueberries have small, mostly elliptic, short stalked leaves.

They have a crown like structure on the calyx end (bottom) of the fruit and a depressed ring on the top of the fruit where the stem was attached.

The skin is smooth and soft and ranges from light blue to dark blue, often with a grayish cast. Blueberries are small, usually around 1/2 inch in diameter.

Blueberry has been domesticated most recently, having been accomplished entirely within the 20th century.

Wild lowbush blueberry plants were probably the first blueberries to be cultivated with native North Americans burning the heaths to increase.
Blueberry