## 3 Results and Discussion
### Dry Mass  
Dry matter can be used to determine the potential quality of fruit. It is the result of the accumulation of carbohydrates, starch, sugars, proteins, cell walls, minerals, etc. The DM of the fruit that were subjected to the magnetic field treatment relative to that of the control samples is shown in Figures 9 and 10. The results showed the slower loss of DM for the test samples (those treated with MF) versus the control samples. On the basis of the obtained results, a decrease in DM by up to 6% was observed in the test sample compared to the control samples. The magnetic field treatment reduced the loss of moisture and hardness in the fruit, thus maintaining their structural integrity and fresh appearance for longer  
Figure 8: Effects of MF on the TA of Ligol apples after 120 days of cold storage. For each experiment, apples were stored in room conditions for 14 days. Statistically significant differences are marked by different letters. Differences between average values that are marked with the same letters (a,b) are not statistically significant. The data were analysed separately for each experiment.  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c} \hline \hline \multicolumn{5}{c}{**TSS/TA ratio**} \\ \hline
**Term** & **Idared** & & **Ligol** & \\ \hline  & MF & Control & MF & Control \\
1 & 3.27 & 3.11 & 3.27 & 3.16 \\
2 & 3.10 & 2.99 & 2.97 & 2.89 \\
3 & 2.83 & 2.72 & 2.58 & 2.57 \\
4 & 2.68 & 2.61 & - & - \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table}
Table 3: Values of the TSS/TA ratio of MF-treated and control apples for each experiment.  
during storage. From the conducted research, it could be concluded that the magnetic field treatment can inhibit the action of tissue enzymes [46].  
Significant differences were observed between the MF-treated samples and the control group of the tested varieties (\(p<0.05\)) during the first two experiments after cold storage. The DM loss for the samples that were treated with an MF of 100 \(\upmu\)T was, on average, 1.5% during experiments 3-4 of the study, while it was 4.6% for the control samples. Some research has proved the efficacy of strong electric fields in extending the shelf life of fruit  
Figure 10: Effects of MF on the DM of Ligol apples after 120 days of cold storage. For each experiment, apples were stored in room conditions for 14 days. Statistically significant differences are marked by different letters. Differences between average values that are marked with the same letters (a,b) are not statistically significant. The data were analysed separately for each experiment.  
Figure 9: Effects of MF on the DM of Idared apples after 120 days of cold storage. For each experiment, apples were stored in room conditions for 14 days. Statistically significant differences are marked by different letters. Differences between average values that are marked with the same letters (a,b) are not statistically significant. The data were analysed separately for each experiment.  
at 20 \({}^{\circ}\)C [47; 48; 49]. Their results showed that the physiological loss of mass during shelf life was lower in the electrical field-treated samples than in the control samples.  
During the first experiment, a DM loss of about 10% was recorded in the Idared variety and about 8% in the Ligol variety. However, the effects of the cultivar on DM loss are not stated. The DM loss percentage of the test apples increased significantly with an incremental increase in storage duration for specimens in cold storage, room conditions with MF treatment and control conditions. The DM content in the fruit decreased linearly with the increase in storage duration due to an increase in the metabolic rate of the fruit [50]. The study showed a linear regression between the dry matter (DM) and TSS/TA ratio of the test apples with an R\({}^{2}\) coefficient of 0.99 (Figure 11).