Revolutionizing food sustainability: Leveraging magnetic fields for food processing and preservation

As an alternative to conventional non-thermal technologies, magnetic field technology is emerging with desirable attributes such as contactless treatment and deep penetration into food matrices. Static, pulsed, and oscillating magnetic fields find widespread application in sustainable food systems. Biosystems, encompassing microorganisms, nutrients, and food enzymes, comprise charged components that undergo drift when subjected to a magnetic field. This process results in the generation of induced currents at both the cellular and molecular levels. To comprehend its impact on sustainable food system, this review firstly provides a summary of the magnetic field as a non-thermal technology. Subsequently, utilization in food processing and preservation was explored, delving into potential mechanisms, operational principles, and biological implications. Finally, challenges and forthcoming trends in this evolving domain are delineated and suggested. Magnetic field technology holds significant promise across both divisions of the food system. This review comprehensively summarizes its underlying principles, from physicochemical to microbiological levels. Nevertheless, more interdisciplinary studies are expected to elucidate the changes and aftereffects induced by magnetic fields, as well as to explore synergies between magnetic field techniques and other methods in food processing and preservation.