Order: Ericales

Family: Ericaceae

Subfamily: Vacciniaceae

Genus: Vaccinium

It has a wide distribution area. the Pyrenees, the Alps and the Caucasus; In Asia, Japan and China are finally found in North America in the Sierra Nevada and the Rocky Mountains. It is found in the northeast of the Black Sea in Turkey. It grows in wet acidic soils at an altitude of 1700–3400 m above sea level in steppe, tundra, heath and coniferous forests. It is a deciduous shrub with brown stems on average 10–75 cm, sometimes up to 1 m. The leaves are oval with a rounded tip with a full leaf margin, 4–30 mm long and 2–15 mm wide, with blue-green reticulate veins. It has pale pink drooping flowers in the form of vases 4–6 mm long. Its sweet, small juicy and fleshy fruit that matures in late summer is dark blue-black with a diameter of 5–8 mm.

Commercially valuable grape species suitable for long-term storage

Bluecrop, Chandler, Spartan, Elliott, Bluegold

Blueberry Harvest

Because fruit on plant ripen at different times, blueberries should be harvested at least once a week during the ripening period. For long-term storage, ripe fruits should be separated from the bunches with the help of the thumb and forefinger and rounded towards the palm. Thus, the immature grains remain in the bunch, and the harvested grains are collected without any wounds. It is beneficial to use containers that can be attached to the back or waist of the harvestman so that both hands can move freely during the harvest. Blueberries are not harvested in rainy weather and the temperature of the fruits must be lowered by pre-cooling after harvest. Thus, the shelf life of the fruits is increased.

In addition to this classical harvesting method, special hand tools - harvest combs developed for blueberries are also used. These collection methods are not very suitable for long-term storage harvest.

Harvest control automation systems are used in such valuable berry fruits today. This control system is in the form of barcode device in the hands of the harvester and sending the boxes of the products he has harvested and sent to the coldstore by barcoding them in his own name. Within this information, it easily brings together all the data such as who harvested the relevant box, on what date and time it was collected, and the harvest speed compared to other boxes of the same collector. If there are problems related to the harvest as a result of storage, it is detected in this way and the personnel is prevented from repeating this mistake.

Suitable conditions for the storage of grapes    

As with all fruits, the product should be brought to the warehouse as soon as possible after harvest, and it should be put into the cold chain by lowering the core temperature with pre-cooling. Reducing the core temperature as soon as possible is the golden rule for long-term storage in blueberries. It straight effects to maximize the storage time in the current product. Blueberries can be stored for about two weeks at -0.05^oC - 0^oC with 90-95% relative humidity.

Controlled atmosphere pallets - PalletCAP, which can condition each pallet separately, are used in the storage of berry fruits, especially blueberry. PalletCAP provide operational and commercial flexibility in the storage technique and sales operation of valuable berry fruits. PalletCAP system or normal cold storage can be used in these fruit groups. However, they should be much smaller in scale compared to other fruit storages. The reason for this is the need to guarantee the cooling circulation in order for the room temperature to be homogeneous.

Controlled Atmosphere Storage of Blueberry

Blueberry fruit can be stored in special covered pallets for up to 10-12 weeks in a controlled atmosphere PalletCAP. Average atmospheric values are in the range of 2.5 – 3.5% O2 and 9-11% CO2. Even higher applications of carbon dioxide than fruit type exist in practice, but high carbon dioxide is used to suppress mold and botyritis fungus in fruit.

In general, one of the most important factors in terms of storability in fruit species is the sugar content of the fruit. The high sugar content in fruit is a feature that accelerates fermentation. Therefore, it is possible to say that even in different sweeter varieties of the same fruit, the storage times are shortened inversely. Apart from that, even in species suitable for long-term storage, harvest time is very important for similar reasons. The harvest time of the harvested fruits should be done neither before nor after this time, and on the right days as it should be. This situation is associated with the amount of brix and sugar taken from the tree before harvest in order to extend the storage period of the fruit.

Our Controlled Atmosphere System Equipments for Grape Storage    

 - Controlled Atmosphere automation

 - Nitrogen Generator

 - Carbon Dioxide Scrubber

 - PalletCAP


The OXYCAT team offers turnkey professional CA equipment and automation with all kinds of consulting, design, engineering and service services for your CA system, suitable for your needs and business structure. 

Please contact if you have any questions and requests regarding our CA systems.