Changes in pectin components of different blueberry varieties during fruit development

Abstract In order to reveal the mechanism of texture change during the fruit mature period of the main blueberry cultivars in Sichuan Province, this paper studied the content of different pectins in the cell wall of ‘Brigitta’, ‘O’Neal’, and ‘Britewell’ cultivars during the period of the 25th to 70th days after flowering period. It was found that the water-soluble pectin content (WSP) in ‘O’Neal’ and ‘Britewell’ increased continuously as the fruits matured. In contrast, the content of alkali-soluble pectin (SSP) continued to decrease. These may be related to changes in PG enzyme activity. In the pink fruit period (the 49th day after flowering), the chelant soluble pectin (CSP) content of the three varieties all reached the highest value, which may be due to the higher PME enzyme activity. In general, the pectin of the fruits of all three varieties gradually degrades as their maturation.