Harvesting blueberries

Blueberries are one of very few fruits native to North America, which continues to be the largest producer of them in the world. They should harvest when they are fully colored and handling should be minimized as they are very delicate and damage easily and the bloom on the fruit surface can be destroyed.

The berries are very small and have to be picked by hand and hand harvesting of highbush blueberries is labor intensive and requires as many as 1150 hours of labor per hectare.

To get the highest quality berries, harvest 4 to 6 days after the berry turns completely blue. If picked earlier, the berries will not be as large and the flavor will not fully developed.

Over the row, self-propelled vibrating machines have been developed for harvesting   blueberries. The use of mechanical vibratos nearly triples worker productivity and reduced harvesting cost by 55%.

Even though the picking cost is lower for mechanically harvested fruit, more berries are picked per hectare by hand and they have a higher value.

Harvesting blueberries, low bush blueberries like there are in Maine, was accomplished using a tool called a rake. A rake is an odd shaped tool that has a handle. Low bush blueberries require the harvester to get drown to ground level.

Mixtures of soft ripe and hard ripe fruits should be avoided as the over-ripe ones can speed deterioration.
Harvesting blueberries

Post harvest of blueberry

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