New Blueberry Variety Showing Promise for Processing

USDA Researchers in Oregon have discovered a new blueberry that they believe holds a lot of promise for the processed market.

Chad Finn with the Horticultural Crops Research Unit said there are more berries being developed for that market.

“There are a lot of applications out there for really highly flavored blueberries that are good for bakery markets where you might have them in a muffin or in some sort of bakery product where you don’t want that giant berry that collapses in the fruit, you want a smaller berry.”

One such new variety is called baby blue.

Finn said, “That’s a blueberry that’s extremely small. It’s machine harvestable with these really small berries that are bright blue and have great flavor.”

The new variety can also offer alternatives for blueberry growers, and open up new areas for blueberries to grow.