Evaluation of Blueberry Fruit Processing Performance Based on Raw Materials and Juice Quality

Abstract

The fruits of 12 blueberry varieties cultivated in the open field in southern Liaoning such as 'Bluegold', 'Reka', 'N5' were used as test materials. The best varieties for processing were selected through the analysis of fruit appearance, nutritional quality and processing performance indexes. The results showed that the blueberry fruit was mainly blue, flat spherical in varying degrees with bloom, and the single fruit weight was 0.95~2.63 g. The fruit contained more than 80% water, the larger the fruit the higher the water content, and the more flat. The fruit contained fructose, glucose, oxalic acid, quinic acid, malic acid, shikimic acid and citric acid. The content of fructose was equal to that of glucose, and the content of citric acid was significantly higher than that of other organic acids (P90 mg∙g−1), organic acid content (>10 mg∙g−1) and juice yield (>74.6%) of 'Sunrise', 'Bluegold' and 'Patroit' were higher, which were better processed varieties. In conclusion, the fruits of 'Sunrise', 'Bluegold' and 'Patroit' were rich in nutrition and high juice yield. They were ideal raw materials for processing.

Keywords

• blueberries
• fruit
• fruit juice
• processing performance
• cluster analysis
• principal component analysis