Germicidal efficacy of the pulsed magnetic field against pathogens and spoilage microorganisms in food processing: An overview

In addition to excessive use of chemical and physical antiseptics in food, any harmful microorganisms present in food are potentially the cause of food safety issues and even cause foodborne diseases to threaten human health. Thermal processing of food as a conventional sterilization technology has been widely used in the food industry to ensure food safety. However, heat treatment has some inevitable adverse effects on nutrition, flavor, color, texture, and aesthetics of the food products. Therefore, it is necessary to research novel nonthermal, green technologies to minimize the impact of undesirable changes on food, and enhance the inactivation efficiency of microorganisms that can cause foodborne illnesses. This review presents a general perspective of the pulsed magnetic field (PMF) as a novel nonthermal sterilization technology. The operating principle, characteristics, and biological effects on microorganisms of PMF are described. Furthermore, the possible inactivation mechanisms and their application in food processing are also addressed. PMF sterilization is considered to be an effective and efficient microorganism eliminating technology that exerts its germicidal ability by magnetoporation and electromagnetic effects, mainly including induced current effect, Lorentz force effect, oscillation effect, and ionization effect. Compared to thermal treatment, PMF sterilization technique meets the requirements of commercial food sterilization standards without impacting food flavor, taste, and texture. The findings of our review suggest that PMF itself would be beneficial as a bacteria inactivation technique or could be readily combined with other suitable methods. Besides, we recommend conceivable paths to adopt this sustainable technique in the food industry. • Pulsed magnetic field as a nonthermal sterilization technology is presented. • PMF is an effective and efficient microorganism eliminating process. • PMF exerts sterilization ability by magnetoporation and electromagnetic effects. • Pulsed magnetic field sterilization technology can be applied in the food industry.