Fruit quality attributes of low chilling requirement ‘Snowchaser’ blueberry cultivated in Brazil

Abstract

-In Brazil there are still few studies on the post-harvest quality of low-chill blueberry cultivars, which have been recently introduced in the country. 'Snowchaser' blueberries were evaluated during a six-day storage period regarding fruit physical and chemical properties, and its antioxidant capacity. During fruit storage there was an increased weight loss and maintenance of some skin color properties such as luminosity (L*) and b*, whereas the values of parameter a* decreased and chroma (C) values increased. The levels of anthocyanins and flavonoids in the pulp increased, as well as the antioxidant activity. Maximum fruit shelf life at room temperature was six days without reduction on the antioxidant activity along the period, which is beneficial to consumers' health. Index terms: Vaccinium corymbosum, weight loss, color, anthocyanins, flavonoids, antioxidant activity. Atributos de qualidade em frutos de mirtileiro 'Snowchaser' de baixa exigência em frio cultivados no BrasilResumo -Há poucos estudos sobre a qualidade pós-colheita de cultivares de mirtilos de baixa exigência em frio hibernal, recentemente introduzidas no Brasil. Frutos de mirtileiro 'Snowchaser' foram avaliados quanto às propriedades físicas e químicas e também com relação à atividade antioxidante, durante 6 dias de armazenamento. Houve aumento da perda de massa e manutenção das variáveis colorimétricas de luminosidade (L*) e (b*), enquanto os valores da variável a* diminuíram e os de croma aumentaram. Os teores de antocianinas e flavonoides aumentaram, assim como a atividade antioxidante. O período máximo de conservação dos frutos em temperatura ambiente foi de 6 dias, sem redução da atividade antioxidante ao longo do período, o que é benéfico para a saúde dos consumidores. Termos para indexação: Vaccinium corymbosum, perda de massa, coloração, antocianinas, flavonoides, atividade antioxidante. Scientific Communication

Anthocyanins in Blueberries Grown in Hot Climate Exert Strong Antioxidant Activity and May Be Effective against Urinary Tract Bacteria

“…The TAC of Snowchaser has previously been reported for fruits cultivated in the South of Brazil (62.36 mg cy-3-O-glu/100g FW) [42]. Despite the fact that both the South of Brazil and Spain share a hot climate, total Snowchaser anthocyanin was six times higher when cultivated in Spain.…”

“…The authors also demonstrated that the bush's genotype has a significant effect on the anthocyanin profile, and that their concentrations vary between harvests. It is worth noting that some varieties currently under cultivation in Andalusia, such as Snowchaser, Emerald and Jewel, accumulated total anthocyanins ranging from 63-101 mg/100 g in other blueberry-producing regions [42,43].…”

Postharvest quality of 'Emerald' blueberry cultivated in a subtropical region

“…Despite this, the 'Emerald' blueberries, produced in a subtropical region without chilling, remained suitable for commercialization and consumption until 12 days after harvest. This is an important result, since, for 'Snowchaser' blueberries, belonging to the same group as 'Emerald', this period was of only 6 days (Jimenes et al, 2018). The fact that, in the present study, the fruit were manually harvested and directly placed in packaging for transport also helped to extend shelf life, since blueberries are extremely susceptible to mechanical damage, which leads to loss of firmness, decreasing fruit quality and shelf life (Xu et al, 2015).…”