Respiration Rate of Blueberry in Modified Atmosphere at Various Temperatures

Respiration rates of three blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) cultivars (Coville, Blueray, and Jersey) were measured as a function of O 2 , CO 2 , and temperature using the closed system method. The data conformed well to a recently proposed Michaelis-Menten type respiration (r) model (r = V m [O 2 ]/{K m + (1 + [CO 2 ]/K i )[O2]}), where V m was maximum respiration rate, K m was Michaelis-Menten constant, and K i was inhibition constant. The model predictions were used to examine the behavior of respiration rates. In general, the respiration rates decreased with increasing CO 2 , but were little affected by changes in O 2 . `Coville' blueberries had the highest respiration rate, followed by `Blueray' and `Jersey'. The temperature dependence of the respiration rates followed the Arrhenius relationship.