QUALITY OF IVANHOE AND BLUECROP BLUEBERRY FRUIT TRANSPORTED BY AIR AND SEA FROM CHILE TO NORTH-AMERICA

We assessed the influence of fruit maturity (percent blue coloration), shipping mode [plane (air) vs. boat (sea)], and storage method [refri gerated air (RA) vs, controlled-atmosphere (CA)] on highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) quality. Fruit picked when 60% blue had low er soluble solids (SS), higher titratable acidity (TA), and a lower SS : TA ratio than 100% blue fruit both before and after 15 days of stor age at 2 degrees C. They were also firmer and had better internal cond ition. Fruit shipped by sea to North America had poorer internal condi tion, were less firm, had fewer sound fruit, and lost more water than those arriving by air and stored for the duration of the sea shipment. CA storage (2 kPa O-2 and 8 kPa CO2, 0 degrees C, 21 days) of fruit s hipped by air did not enhance fruit quality in comparison with RA stor age (ambient O-2 and CO2, 0 degrees C, 21 days) except by minimizing m ass loss. After an additional holding period (20 degrees C, 3 days) to simulate nonrefrigerated retail conditions, CA-stored fruit had less decay than RA-stored fruit. Maintaining low temperature during the hol ding period after CA or RA storage was critical in preventing decay, e specially for the 'Ivanhoe', which was more susceptible to decay, soft ening, and internal breakdown than 'Bluecrop' across all treatments.