Effect of combined static magnetic field and cold water shock treatment on the physicochemical properties of cucumbers

Based on the mechanism of temperature shock treatment and electromagnetic effect for food preservation, this paper developed a novel food preservation method by combining static magnetic field with low magnetic flux density and low-temperature water shock to process the fresh postharvest vegetable. Compared with the single cold-water shock treatment (CST, Tw = 2 °C, τ = 40 min), the static magnetic field and cold-water shock treatment (SMCT, B = 70 Gs, Tw = 2 °C, τ = 40 min) caused an increase of cooling-rate of cucumbers' tissues during treatment. Weight loss of SMCT was also lower than that of CST during storage. Furthermore, decay incidence and color difference of SMCT were about 40.2% and 10.6% lower than that of CST. Activities of catalase and superoxide dismutase for SMCT were higher than that of CST, which caused a reduction of malondialdehyde. Experimental results confirmed that SMCT had a positive influence on pre-cooling, preservation quality and physicochemical properties of cucumbers.