Blueberry producers in the United States are facing high input costs and labor shortages, which have led them to mechanize several areas of blueberry production, particularly harvesting. Even though the use of machine harvesters is advantageous to producers and new technologies have been developed in recent years, several parts of the process still require improvements. One of the issues caused by the adoption of mechanical harvesting is increased harvest intervals, due to the high capital expenses associated with the purchase of such machinery that in turn leads to limited availability of harvesters to perform the harvest in a timely fashion. This trend may compromise berry quality, particularly in the Southeastern United States. Firmness is a critical factor in determining consumer preference, shelf life, and market value of fresh blueberries. The postharvest quality of blueberries is influenced by various factors, including genotype, postharvest handling, and harvest conditions such as harvest intervals. This study aimed to investigate the impact of different harvest-regimes on fruit quality and storability of ‘Brightwell’ blueberries. The experiment was conducted at the Alma Blueberry Research Farm, with a randomized complete block design. Fruit were hand-harvested at different intervals: T1: every 2 days, T2: every 3 days, and T3: every 7 days. Each treatment was replicated four times, resulting in nine harvests across all treatments. Following the harvest, the berries were sorted for defects, packed in clamshells, and stored at 1°C (34°F) and 85% relative humidity. Fruit quality parameters: firmness, fruit size, color, total soluble solids (TSS), titratable acidity, and fruit rot evaluation were evaluated at four different intervals: 1, 7, 14, and 21 days after harvest. Preliminary results indicate that fruit from the second and third harvests, T1 and T2 exhibited higher firmness readings at harvest compared to T3. Throughout the storage period, the firmness of the fruit was consistently higher in T2 compared to other treatments. A bigger fruit size was obtained at the first harvest of all treatments which declined after 14 days of storage in all three treatments. At the second harvest, T2 had the highest TSS but after 21 days of storage, TSS declined and T1 had the highest TSS after 21 days of storage in all three harvests. Additionally, T3 had a higher fruit rot incidence, and wet, sunken berries in the second and third harvests. So, a harvest interval of less than 7 days is recommended to maintain the fruit quality.
