Fruit quality parameters are typically reported by growers and researchers as an average. However, for small fruits such as blueberries, berry-to-berry variability in texture and flavor also impacts the consumer eating experience. The objective of this project was to capture how the uniformity of fruit quality parameters varies by 1) cultivar, 2) berry maturity, and 3) exogenous phytohormone applications. From 2022-2023, analyses were conducted on individual blueberries from multiple studies carried out in commercial fields in Michigan. First, we compared the uniformity of berry mass, diameter, firmness, and total soluble solids (TSS) in six northern highbush blueberry cultivars: “Duke,’ ‘Bluecrop,’ ‘Draper,’ ‘Calypso,’ ‘Elliott,’ and ‘Aurora.’ The uniformity was highest/lowest for berry mass in 'Bluecrop'/'Calypso', firmness in 'Bluecrop’ /‘Aurora,’ and TSS in 'Bluecrop'/'Elliott'. Second, we evaluated how changes in berry maturity due to delayed harvest affected the uniformity of berry mass, diameter, firmness, TSS, pH, total acidity (TA), TSS/TA, and aroma volatile concentrations in: ‘Duke,’ ‘Draper,’ and ‘Calypso’. Delayed harvest did not alter the uniformity of berry mass or TSS, but increased the uniformity of TA and TSS/TA in all three cultivars. The implications of delayed harvest on the uniformity of consumer liking scores will also be discussed. Finally, we tested whether exogenous application of multiple phytohormones impacted the uniformity of berry mass, diameter, firmness, and TSS in ‘Bluecrop’ and ‘Elliott’. Abscisic acid improved the uniformity of berry mass in 'Elliott,' but not firmness or TSS. Meanwhile, jasmonates had a limited effect on the uniformity of fruit quality parameters in 'Bluecrop'. The relative importance of the "average" and "uniformity" of fruit quality parameters will be discussed. We conclude that “uniformity” is an important component of fruit quality in blueberry.
