Crisp, firm, sweet and subtly tart, bursting with fiber and antioxidants — what more could you ask for in a fruit?
For University of Georgia blueberry breeder Juliet Chu, the better question is, “What would make you reach for another clamshell?”
If consumers are happy, Georgia blueberry growers are happy.
“I’m like a bear,” laughed Chu, faculty in the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. “I spend all day in the field eating only blueberries.”
A 15-year journey from field to market
She bounces between the 50-acre research farm, where thousands of potential blueberry lines are grown under the harsh realities of south Georgia’s subtropical climate, and where pests, diseases and weather challenges are simply part of the equation.
“We don’t spray our blueberries. We operate this farm as bare-bones as possible and put these plants through the toughest conditions because we want to know they’ll hold up in growers’ fields and won’t require a lot of inputs,” Chu explained. “That helps reduce the time and money growers spend producing the fruit, and it helps consumers feel good about the produce they’re buying.”
In an age when digital technologies and tools are advancing faster than ever, Chu and her students in the Institute of Plant Breeding, Genetics and Genomics blend traditional breeding methods with emerging technologies.
Part of the UGA Blueberry Breeding Program, Chu and team hand-pollinate thousands of flowers each year, making crosses between plants that exhibit desirable traits, then growing the resulting seedlings in the field to see how those combinations perform in practice. From the first cross to a commercially available variety, the process can take 10 to 15 years — a timeline that requires equal parts scientific rigor and patience.
New tools are helping speed up parts of that process. This year, the program received funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture to explore how artificial intelligence, advanced imaging and genetic data can help identify promising blueberry lines more efficiently.
It’s all part of a near-constant pursuit of the perfect blueberry. And her favorite type? Hands down, rabbiteye.
A better berry for growers and consumers
In the U.S. and much of the world, only two primary types of cultivated blueberries reach consumers: highbush and rabbiteye.
Highbush blueberries dominate grocery store shelves because they are widely adapted for commercial production and shipping, but rabbiteye blueberries are native to the Southeast and already possess strong genetics that breeders can build upon, Chu explained.
Holding up a giant blueberry, Chu grabs the berry-sizing gauge that hangs from a lanyard around her neck. While many blueberries on the market average about 14 millimeters in diameter, some of the new rabbiteye hybrid lines she has developed can reach an impressive 28 millimeters.
Broken in half, the fruit reveals a blush of pink.
That coloration comes from anthocyanins, naturally occurring plant pigments that give blueberries their characteristic blue hue. Blueberries are also a good source of fiber and antioxidants, and researchers continue to explore how compounds such as anthocyanins may support overall health and cognitive function.
For Chu, it’s an easy win-win. Consumers get better blueberries, thanks to the program’s continuous push for improving fruit texture and flavor. Growers get stronger plants that require fewer inputs and produce larger, more attractive berries capable of maintaining quality through harvest, shipping and storage — all characteristics her lab evaluates when selecting promising lines.
“I want everyone to switch one less healthy snack a day with blueberries,” Chu said. “And I want our growers to make a lot of money,” she added with a chuckle.
