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
