USDA Blackberry 'Columbia Star'

Technology Description
Oregon State University is seeking to commercialize the Columbia Star Blackberry. In a collaboration between the USDA-Agricultural Research Service, the Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station and the Washington Agricultural Research, they have created a thornless, machine harvestable, high quality blackberry for the processed fruit market. The plant has been harvested using an over-the-row machine in trials in Oregon and Washington and has performed extremely well. Columbia Star is the first commercial blackberry-type cultivar to be released using the ‘Lincoln Logan’ source of thornlessness. Columbia Star’s average yield was 16,750 kg/hectare with a conical shape and uniformly sized, shaped and arranged drupelets. The flavor was sweet with a nice acidic balance with aroma typical of western blackberries and with noticeable raspberry aromatic notes.

Features & Benefits

  • Thornless
  • Ripe fruit separated easily from plant
  • Machine harvestable with high yields
  • Uniformly sized, conical shaped drupelets
  • Flavor is sweet with acidic balance and blackberry/raspberry aromatic notes

Applications

  • Fresh fruit market
  • Processed fruit market

Status
Plant Patent PP25,532 issued and available for non-exclusive licensing

Patent Information: