‘Muffin Man’ an edible ornamental rabbiteye blueberry

Authors: Babiker, Ebrahiem; Stringer, Stephen; Adamczyk, John; Sakhanokho, Hamidou; DRAPER, ALAN - Retired ARS Employee

Submitted to: HortScience
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/15/2018
Publication Date: 10/24/2018
Citation: Babiker, E.M., Stringer, S.J., Adamczyk Jr, J.J., Sakhanokho, H.F., Draper, A. 2018. ‘Muffin Man’ an edible ornamental rabbiteye blueberry. HortScience. 53(10):1523-1524. https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTSCI13372-18.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTSCI13372-18

Interpretive Summary: ‘Muffin Man’ is a new, non-patented edible ornamental rabbiteye blueberry cultivar developed by the USDA-ARS Thad Cochran Southern Horticultural Laboratory for homeowners and nursery industry. ‘Muffin Man’ is characterized by notable fall coloring in leaves, numerous unique pale pink blooms that arise on long reproductive shoots, where berries developed with attractive color ranging from pink to deep blue upon ripening. ‘Muffin Man’ produces berries with small dry stem scars and acceptable aroma and sugar-acid balance. Berry weight, berry size, firmness, Soluble solids content, and titratable acidity of ‘Muffin Man’ are comparable to commercial cultivars ‘Brightwell’ and ‘Alapaha’. ‘Muffin Man’ is an ideal choice for edible and ornamental landscape for the Gulf Coast region.

Technical Abstract: The rabbiteye blueberry (Vaccinium virgatum Aiton 2n = 6x = 72) is commercially important in the southeastern United States because of its adaptability to prevalent biotic and abiotic stresses. There is a growing interest in edible landscaping as alternative to conventional landscapes. ‘Muffin Man’ is a new, non-patented edible ornamental rabbiteye blueberry cultivar developed by the USDA-ARS Thad Cochran Southern Horticultural Laboratory for homeowners and nursery industry. ‘Muffin Man’ is characterized by notable fall coloring in leaves, numerous unique pale pink blooms that arise on long reproductive shoots, where berries developed with attractive color ranging from pink to deep blue upon ripening. ‘Muffin Man’ produces berries with small dry stem scars and acceptable aroma and sugar-acid balance. Berry weight, berry size, firmness, pH, Soluble solids content, and titratable acidity of ‘Muffin Man’ are comparable to commercial cultivars ‘Brightwell’ and ‘Alapaha’. ‘Muffin Man’ is an ideal choice for edible and ornamental landscape for the USDA hardiness zones 8a thru 9a.