The results suggest that fruits may become susceptible to D. suzukii as they start to turn color, and that specific varieties of grapes and overripe blueberries have low susceptibility to D. suzukii.

Granny Smith apples were processed into juices and concentrates from fruits which had been stored at 1°C for three months (short-term, ST) and nine months (long-term, LT). Total soluble proteins decreased with storage time of fruits. Juices processed from ST fruits were more resistant to haze formation (heat stability test) than those processed from LT fruits. For juices processed from ST apples, haze formation was related to proteins in the MW range of 21,000 to 31,000 daltons. For juices processed from LT apples, haze formation was not only related to proteins but also to other components in the juices. Fining was recommended to prevent haze and sediment formation.

A study was done to determine the effects of irrigation method and level of water application on yield and fruit quality of 'Elliott' highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.). Plants were grown on mulched, raised beds and irrigated by overhead sprinklers, microsprays, or drip at 50, 100, and 150% of the crop evapotranspiration requirement (ET c). Overall, marketable yield and individual berry weight were higher in plants irrigated by drip than in those irrigated by sprinklers and microsprays. Yield and berry weight were also higher on average when plants were irrigated at 100% ET c than at 50% ET c but were similar between plants irrigated at 100% and 150% ET c. Thus, as expected, plants were generally under-irrigated at 50% ET c and over-irrigated at 150% ET c ; however, this was not always the case. Yield did not increase between 50% and 100% ET c when plants were irrigated by drip, and berry weight increased from 100% to 150% ET c when plants were irrigated by microsprays. Interestingly, drip reduced berry firmness and soluble solids relative to sprinkler and microspray irrigation, potentially increasing problems with soft fruit during shipping and storage. Titratable acidity was also lower with drip but only when plants were irrigated at 50% ET c. While irrigation method and the amount of water application affected yield and fruit quality in blueberry, more work is needed to identify the best combinations of each to produce the most marketable fruit.

Additional index words. Rubus, fruit breeding, spineless 'Marion' is currently the most important blackberry (Rubus L. subgenus Rubus) cultivar in the world as it is the predominant cultivar grown for the processed-fruit market (Finn et al., 1997). While 'Marion' produces fruit of outstanding quality for processing, the plants are thorny (botanically termed spiny). When 'Marion' is machine harvested, thorns can end up in the product (Strik and Buller, 2002), which can lead to a poor product, and, more signifi cantly, in an economic sense, lawsuits. As a result, a primary priority for the breeding program has been the development of cultivars that are thornless, machine harvestable, and retain the excellent processing characteristics of 'Marion'. Three thornless blackberry cultivars with these qualities are being released simultaneously: 'Black Diamond', 'Black Pearl' (Finn et al., 2005a), and 'Nightfall' (Finn et al., 2005b). 'Black Diamond' is a thornless trailing blackberry from the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) breeding program in Corvallis, Ore., released in cooperation with the Oregon State University Agricultural Experiment Station and the Washington State University Agricultural Research Center (Fig. 1). 'Black Diamond' is high-yield-N-71's parentage is much more straightforward but nonetheless complex as it is a cross between 'Aurora', a trailing cultivar whose ploidy is 8x +2, and 'Comanche' a 4x erect blackberry from the University of Arkansas. 'Black Diamond' is the result of tremendous cooperation amongst breeders who have shared their germplasm.

The trailing blackberries (Rubus sp. L.), particularly `Marion', are the primary blackberries grown for the processing market and they are largely machine harvested. While `Marion' is well known for its processed fruit quality, particularly flavor, aroma, and perception of low seediness, it has spines (thorns) that can be dislodged when machine harvested and end up in the product. A primary goal of the USDA–ARS blackberry breeding program in Corvallis is the development of cultivars that are comparable to `Marion' in fruit quality but are spineless (thornless). Nine thornless selections were compared with four standard cultivars as individually quick-frozen (IQF) and puree products in a blind evaluation. Each sample was scored panelists from the blackberry industry and research program. IQF samples were scored for appearance, color, seediness, flavor, and overall quality by 21 panelists and purees were scored for color, flavor, aroma, and overall quality by 25 panelists. Both panels used a 9 point hedonic scale (1 = dislike extremely, 5 = neither like nor dislike, 9 = like extremely). With the exception of color, there were significant differences among all genotypes for all traits evaluated in the IQF and pureed products. ORUS 1380-1 was ranked similar to `Marion' and significantly better than `Waldo', in overall quality of the IQF product. In puree form, ORUS 1843-1 and ORUS 1843-3 had the highest ranking in overall quality, but were only both statistically different from ORUS 1489-2. For pureed product flavor, ORUS 1843-1 was the highest rated selection but was not statistically different from `Marion'. While ORUS 1843-1 and ORUS 1843-3 hold great promise, they are from a cross between wild collected Rubus ursinus Cham. & Schlt. and `Waldo' and as a result have some negative characteristics of the native species, particularly small fruit size. The puree quality of NZ 9128R-1, NZ 9351-4 and ORUS 1380-1 was similar to `Marion' and these genotypes offer promise as thornless replacements for `Marion'.