Comparison study of static and alternating magnetic field treatments on the quality preservation effect of cherry tomato at low temperature

The objective of this study is to investigate the effects of a static magnetic field (SMF) and alternating magnetic field (AMF) treatment on thermophysical property and preservation quality of cherry tomato. Freshly harvested cherry tomatoes were treated with SMF and AMF at 40 Gs and 80 Gs when hydrocooling pretreatment was performed at 2 degrees C for 30 min. Control tomato fruits were hydrocooled without magnetic field treatment at 2 degrees C for 30 min. The cooling rate, weight loss, color difference, electrical conductivity, malondialdehyde, and catalase were measured. The results showed that the cooling time of SMF treatment was decreased by 16.7% compared with the control treatment. SMF and AMF treatments significantly (p < .05) increased catalase activity and improved the quality of cherry tomatoes during storage. AMF strength at 80 Gs, was the best treatment for reducing weight loss and increasing catalase activity, while the smallest color difference was observed when the SMF at 40 Gs was applied. The results demonstrated that SMF is an alternative method to delay the postharvest ripening process and maintaining the quality of the cherry tomato, which could be due to the higher activity of the antioxidant enzyme catalase. Practical applications The main aim of this study was to compare the effects of SMF and AMF treatment on the preservation quality of cherry tomato. The results demonstrated that magnetic field technology could be applied to fruit and vegetable preservation, and SMF treatment was more helpful to inhibit the ripening of the cherry tomato. This study will broaden the knowledge of food preservation engineers and provide an alternative technology of fruit and vegetable preservation. The parameters used in this study can provide a reference for the development of commercial equipment.