2019 ASHS Annual Conference

Three main blueberry types are grown in the United States: southern highbush (SHB, Vaccinium corymbosum L. and V. darrowii Camp), rabbiteye (RE, V. virgatum Aiton), and northern highbush (NHB, Vaccinium corymbosum L). Within the blueberry industry, there has been a subjective bias that NHB have superior fruit quality than that of SHB and RE. Yet, there are limited objective and subjective information comparing instrumental and consumer sensory perception of the major cultivars of the three main commercial types. The main objectives of this study were to evaluate consumer sensory perception of overall liking, texture, grittiness and seediness, determine seed and fiber trait content using instrumental analyses, and compare overall liking to textural trait consumer sensory perception and instrumental analyses of SHB, RE, and NHB. Nineteen cultivars were collected from Georgia, Michigan and Canada commercial packers during the 2018 harvest season with eight SHB cultivars: ‘Star’, ‘Farthing’, ‘Keecrisp’, ‘Meadowlark’, ‘Suziblue’, ‘Legacy’ from GA, ‘Legacy’ from MI, and ‘Camellia’; five RE cultivars: ‘Vernon’, ‘Alapaha’, ‘Powderblue’, ‘Austin, and ‘Brightwell’; and six NHB cultivars: ‘Draper’, ‘Bluecrop’, ‘Nelson’, ‘Elliot’, ‘Aurora’, and ‘Liberty’. Seed traits (plump, shriveled and percent seed: berry weight ratio) and fiber traits (% Acid Detergent Fiber (ADF), Neutral Detergent Fiber (NDF), lignin, hemicellulose and cellulose) were instrumentally measured. Five consumer sensory panels were conducted using the same 84 consumers, to assess sensory characteristics using a 9-point hedonic scale (1= extremely dislike, 9= extremely like). SHB cultivars were ranked highest for overall liking, texture, grittiness, and seediness compared to NHB and RE (P≤0.0001). SHB and NHB fruit significantly contained the smallest percent seed: berry wt ratios (P≤0.0001). RE fiber traits were significantly larger than that of SHB and NHB (P≤0.0001). Consumers preferred SHB grittiness, texture and seediness compared to that of NHB and RE. Results from this study suggest that overall liking highly correlates with a crisp texture, small % seed: berry wt. ratio, and smooth texture. Awareness of fiber content may also lead to consumers willing to pay and buy more blueberries, which may increase Georgia’s fruit demand and profit.