Does photoselective netting influence ripening, maturity parameters and chemical composition of highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) fruit?

Abstract

The use of photoselective nets in highbush blueberry orchards has attracted much interest in recent years. In our 2-year experiment, we evaluated the effect of black, red, yellow and white exclusion nets and an uncovered control on light quantity and quality, fruit maturity parameters and chemical composition at harvest. Significant differences between treatments were noticed in fruit peel color, firmness and total soluble solids (TSS) content in both experimental years. The content of total volatiles in 2022 was the highest under the red net (2.67 mg kg−1) and the control (2.63 mg kg−1), to which the contents of hexanal and (E)-2-Hexenal contributed the most. No significance in total volatiles was determined in 2023. The sugar/organic acid ratio was the lowest in fruit under the yellow net (4.62) and the highest under the black net (7.74). Total phenolic, total anthocyanin and petunidin-3-O-glucoside contents were the highest in fruit under the black net (3606 mg kg−1) and lowest in fruit under the white exclusion net (2072 mg kg−1). According to our results, the black net performed the best, regarding the internal quality parameters, while the yellow net negatively affected the sugar/organic acid ratio and the white exclusion net negatively affected the total phenolic content.