Storage morphological and biochemical performance of highbush blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum l.) grown under photoselective nets

Grohar, Mariana Cecilia (author), Indihar, Eva (author), Burin, Tea (author), Veberič, Robert (author), Jakopič, Jerneja (author), Smrke, Tina (author)

The use of photoselective nets has gained interest in highbush blueberry production systems in recent years. Although some work has been conducted on their effects on the growth and development of the fruit, the performance of fruit grown under those nets after harvest has not been addressed yet. Here we focus on the performance of fruit grown under photoselective nets (exclusion, red, yellow, black) during long cold storage for the first time. The experiment was performed in two different years, monitoring morphological parameters, as well as primary and secondary metabolites using HPLC-MS and GC-MS. Minimal differences between treatments were noticed in fruit color, firmness and total soluble solids contents (TSS). In terms of fruit metabolism, two different periods were described during storage, with an inflection point at 14 days; in the first period, an increase in sugar content and a decrease in volatile content was observed, while after that, we found the opposite behavior. Overall, fruit grown under red nets showed the highest retention of secondary metabolites and the highest sugar/organic ratio, probably associated with a higher antioxidant capacity promoted by an increased red light proportion during the growth season. On the other hand, yellow nets showed the least favorable storage performance, as the light quality did not significantly improve the metabolism.

• Language: English
• Keywords: Bluecrop, anti-insect net, light modification, phenolics, volatiles, sugars, organic acids, HPLC-MS, GC-MS
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: BF - Biotechnical Faculty
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2025
• Number of pages: 16 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 11, iss. 7, art. 713
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-169939
• UDC: 634.73
• ISSN on article: 2311-7524
• DOI: 10.3390/horticulturae11070713
• COBISS.SI-ID: 240220163
• Publication date in RUL: 23.06.2025

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Horticulturae
• Publisher: MDPI
• ISSN: 2311-7524
• COBISS.SI-ID: 526326297

Licences

• License: CC BY-NC 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
• Description: A creative commons license that bans commercial use, but the users don’t have to license their derivative works on the same terms.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: ameriške borovnice, Vaccinium corymbosum, protiinsektne mreže, fenoli, hlapne snovi, sladkorji, organske kisline

Projects

• Funder: ARIS - Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency
• Project number: P4-0013
• Name: Hortikultura

• Funder: Other - Other funder or multiple funders
• Project number: I0-0022
• Name: Mreža raziskovalnih infrastrukturnih centrov Univerze v Ljubljani (MRIC UL)
• Acronym: MRIC UL