Controlling Postharvest Decay of Blueberries Using Firmness Separation and Hot Water Treatments
ABSTRACT A rapid, nondestructive technique has been developed for sensing blueberry firmness based on the peak force/time-to-peak ratio taken from contact force measurements during impact-rebound. A computer-con-trolled separator model was developed to evaluate the effectiveness of firmness separation and a hot water dip treatment in reducing decay in fresh market blueberries. The hot water treatment reduced decay substantially. However, the combination of firmness separation and hot water dip nearly eliminated the decay during simulated commercial marketing.