Static and varied magnetic fields effects on shrinkage and sprouting characteristics of stored potatoes

Figures & data

Figure 1. Schematic representation of treatment of potato tubers with magnetic fields generated by double Helmholtz coils.

Table 1. Magnetic field (MF) intensities generated through direct currents (DC) and alternating currents (AC)

Intensity (mT)	Voltage (V)	Current (A)
DC-activated MF intensities
0.5	3.85	0.72
1.0	8.50	1.60
1.5	11.95	2.41
2.0	14.35	2.91
AC-activated MF intensities
0.2	7.35	0.47
0.4	11.60	0.75
0.6	16.30	1.04
0.8	21.45	1.33

Table 2. Effects of magnetic field (MF) intensities on shrinkage and sprouting characteristics of potatoes

Intensity (mT)	Weight reduction (%)	No. of sprouted potatoes (%)	No. of sprouts per tuber	Length of Longest Sprout (mm)	Sprout base thickness (mm)	Sprouting capacity (%)
Effects of DC-activated MF intensities
0.0	19.115 ± 1.095a	88.330 ± 0.000ab	2.500 ± 0.500a	10.225 ± 0.625a	3.405 ± 0.335ab	0.220 ± 0.020a
0.5	11.963 ± 0.595bc	73.810 ± 7.081bc	1.500 ± 0.167b	8.242 ± 0.445c	3.286 ± 0.094b	0.167 ± 0.021b
1.0	11.420 ± 0.620c	71.668 ± 3.764c	1.500 ± 0.167b	8.879 ± 0.552bc	3.485 ± 0.152ab	0.141 ± 0.019bc
1.5	12.616 ± 0.557b	81.905 ± 5.812ab	1.700 ± 0.153b	10.027 ± 0.440a	3.653 ± 0.080ab	0.160 ± 0.015b
2.0	9.992 ± 0.175d	83.570 ± 3.528a	1.200 ± 0.133b	9.225 ± 0.403ab	3.723 ± 0.112a	0.113 ± 0.017c
Effects of AC-activated MF intensities
0.0	19.935 ± 0.915a	100.00 ± 0.000a	2.000 ± 0.000a	10.215 ± 0.015a	3.855 ± 0.035a	0.345 ± 0.075a
0.2	12.395 ± 1.088b	88.332 ± 3.557b	1.800 ± 0.133b	9.172 ± 0.255b	3.646 ± 0.081b	0.183 ± 0.012b
0.4	13.272 ± 0.743b	68.333 ± 4.614c	1.500 ± 0.167bc	10.426 ± 0.906a	3.864 ± 0.100a	0.187 ± 0.021b
0.6	13.591 ± 0.754b	70.120 ± 3.034c	1.300 ± 0.153c	10.037 ± 0.479a	3.632 ± 0.107b	0.192 ± 0.009b
0.8	13.391 ± 0.630b	68.096 ± 3.352c	1.600 ± 0.163b	8.097 ± 0.491c	3.518 ± 0.165b	0.129 ± 0.027c

Means followed by the same letter along the same column are not significant at P < 0.05. Means are presented as means ± standard error of the mean.

Table 3. Shrinkage and sprouting characteristics as influenced by varied holding times of magnetic intensity on potatoes

Holding time (s)	Weight reduction (%)	No. of sprouted potatoes (%)	No. of sprouts per tuber	Length of longest sprout (mm)	Sprout base thickness (mm)	Sprouting capacity (%)
Effects of DC-activated magnetic fields
10	13.273 ± 0.831a	72.323 ± 4.718bc	1.625 ± 0.183a	8.273 ± 0.545b	3.229 ± 0.145b	0.173 ± 0.022a
20	11.273 ± 0.444b	77.679 ± 6.135bc	1.625 ± 0.183a	8.306 ± 0.592b	3.555 ± 0.135ab	0.143 ± 0.021ab
40	11.190 ± 0.531b	91.963 ± 3.050a	1.500 ± 0.189ab	10.018 ± 0.288a	3.714 ± 0.102a	0.160 ± 0.024a
60	10.956 ± 0.397b	70.834 ± 8.183c	1.250 ± 0.164b	9.485 ± 0.661ab	3.610 ± 0.149ab	0.113 ± 0.018b
120	10.798 ± 0.702b	82.144 ± 5.673ab	1.375 ± 0.106ab	9.385 ± 0.413ab	3.576 ± 0.106ab	0.139 ± 0.017ab
Effects of AC-activated magnetic fields
10	16.543 ± 0.435a	67.560 ± 6.019	2.000 ± 0.000a	9.135 ± 0.451bc	3.476 ± 0.112c	0.195 ± 0.021a
20	12.655 ± 0.616b	77.083 ± 5.398	1.375 ± 0.183bc	9.540 ± 0.514ab	3.711 ± 0.080b	0.174 ± 0.024ab
40	10.593 ± 0.382c	76.041 ± 2.919	1.500 ± 0.189bc	9.894 ± 0.787ab	4.035 ± 0.168a	0.170 ± 0.020ab
80	12.768 ± 0.819b	71.429 ± 4.123	1.250 ± 0.164c	10.914 ± 0.988a	3.740 ± 0.147ab	0.191 ± 0.023a
160	13.254 ± 0.684b	76.489 ± 6.176	1.625 ± 0.183b	8.358 ± 0.411c	3.363 ± 0.166c	0.134 ± 0.020b

Means followed by the same letter along the same column are not significant at P < 0.05. Means are presented as means ± standard error of the mean.

Figure 2. Effects of interaction between DC-activated magnetic field intensities and holding time on shrinkage and sprouting characteristics of potatoes. Error bars represent standard error of individual means.

Figure 3. Effects of interaction between AC-activated magnetic field intensities and holding time on shrinkage and sprouting characteristics of potatoes. Error bars represent standard error of individual means.

Figure 4. Correlation matrix plots for the response variables as affected by DC-activated magnetic fields. WR; weight reduction, SP; sprouted potatoes, NST; number of sprouts per tuber, LLS; length of the longest sprout, SBT; sprout base thickness, SC; sprouting capacity, LT; length of tuber.

Figure 5. Correlation matrix plots for the response variables as affected by AC-activated magnetic fields. WR; weight reduction, SP; sprouted potatoes, NST; number of sprouts per tuber, LLS; length of the longest sprout, SBT; sprout base thickness, SC; sprouting capacity, LT; length of tuber.