Different effects of continuous and intermittent alternative magnetic field on inhibiting chilling injury of bananas

Chilling injury (CI) is one of the important factors to reduce tropical fruit preservation quality. A low-temperature electromagnetic preservation system is developed by combining the refrigerated storage technology and electromagnetic biological effect to decrease the CI damage. Based on this system, the experimental study and mechanism analysis of alternating magnetic field inhibiting the CI of bananas are carried out. Experimental results show that compared with the control group (CK), the alternative magnetic field continuous treatment (AMCT, B = 20 Gs, f = 60 Hz) group and the alternative magnetic field intermittent treatment (B = 20 Gs, f = 60 Hz, t = 12 h) group both obviously have a lower respiration rate, polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activity, and degree of CI in the refrigerated storage condition of T = 6 degrees C and RH = 85%. Compared with the CK group, the color difference in the AMCT group is reduced by 19.1% and the malondialdehyde content is only 81.9%, which shows the best chilling injury inhibition effect. Practical Applications The main purpose of this study was to compare the effects of AMCT and AMIT treatment on the CI of bananas. The results demonstrated that magnetic field technology could inhibit the CI of fruits and vegetables effectively, and AMCT treatment was more helpful to the preservation of bananas. This study will further improve the magnetic field treatment technology and provide a safe physical technology for fruit and vegetable freshness preservation. The parameters studied in this article can provide a reference for the development of commercial equipment.