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Variability in sucrose levels and metabolism in ripe fruit of several Vaccinium species were examined. The objective was to determine if sufficient variability for fruit sucrose accumulation was present in existing populations to warrant attempts to breed for high-sucrose fruit, which potentially would be less subject to bird predation. Three-fold differences in fruit sucrose concentration were found among species, ranging from 19 to 24 mg·(g fw)-1 in V. stamineum and V. arboreum to about 7 mg·(g fw)-1 in cultivated blueberry (V. ashei and V. corymbosum) and V. darrowi. Soluble acid invertase activity was negatively correlated with fruit sucrose concentration. There was no apparent correlation between fruit sugar concentration and either sucrose phosphate synthase or sucrose synthase activities, both of which were low for all species studied. The degree of variability in fruit sucrose accumulation among Vaccinium species supports the feasibility of developing high sucrose fruit, which would be a potentially valuable addition to current strategies of minimizing crop losses to birds.