Noodles represent one of the most widely consumed cereal-based staple foods worldwide. Fresh noodles are increasingly appreciated for their nutritional value and desirable textural attributes. However, their high moisture content renders them highly vulnerable to microbial contamination and physicochemical deterioration, thereby limiting their shelf life (Chen et al., 2025; Qi et al., 2025). Conventional preservation strategies such as thermal and chemical treatments are unsuitable for fresh noodles as they deteriorate texture, alter flavor, and reduce consumer acceptability (Obadi, Li, & Xu, 2023). Heat treatments cause starch gelatinization and protein denaturation, while chemical preservatives disrupt gluten-starch interactions and introduce off-flavors (Ma et al., 2023). These limitations highlight the need for a non-thermal preservation technology capable of maintaining the structural and sensory integrity of fresh noodles, while avoiding heat- or chemical-induced deterioration.

Among emerging approaches, pulsed magnetic field (PMF) treatment has gained attention as a high-intensity, instantaneous, and non-contact processing technology (Basak, 2023). Previous studies have demonstrated that PMF effectively reduces microbial loads in liquid food matrices while largely preserving nutritional and textural attributes. Lin, Wang, He, and Cui (2019) applied PMF to vegetable juices (cucumber, carrot, lettuce, and tomato) inoculated with Escherichia coli O157:H7, achieving complete inactivation in cucumber juice under an 8 T field with 80 pulses, without adversely affecting color or flavor. Similarly, Qian et al. (2016) reported that higher field strengths and pulse numbers (3.3 T, 30 pulses) produced more effective inactivation of Bacillus subtilis, achieving a minimum survival rate of 33.87 %. Beyond microbial inactivation, PMF has been reported to suppress rice starch retrogradation and improve the freeze-thaw stability of starch-based gels (Wang et al., 2025), while ultra-high static magnetic fields (5–20 T) can induce cross-linking in corn starch, enhancing its short-range molecular order and thermal stability (Zhang et al., 2022). These effects have been associated with magnetic-field-induced polarization of water molecules and charged biopolymer groups, which can reorganize hydrogen-bonding networks, reduce molecular mobility, and modulate enzymatic activity, thereby influencing microbial viability and the structural stability of hydrated starch matrices (Miñano et al., 2020; Wang et al., 2024; Zhang et al., 2022).

Despite these promising observations, significant knowledge gaps remain in understanding PMF mechanisms on the treatment of food systems. Current research has predominantly focused on liquid food matrices, with limited investigation of solid or semi-solid food systems such as fresh noodles. Moreover, the underlying mechanisms by which PMF affects microbial inactivation, protein conformation, and starch structural ordering are not fully understood, particularly in high-moisture, protein-starch systems. We propose that PMF-induced modulation of water molecular dynamics and starch-protein network organization underlies its potential to retard the quality deterioration of fresh noodles.

To contribute to addressing these gaps, this study investigates the effects of PMF on fresh noodle quality. Comprehensive multi-scale analyses were performed to assess macroscopic physicochemical properties, textural and rheological behaviors, water state distribution, and molecular-level alterations. By integrating these multi-dimensional observations, we constructed a mechanistic framework that elucidates how PMF-induced modifications of protein-starch interactions collectively reinforce noodle structural integrity and delay quality deterioration. This work provides novel insights into the structure-function relationships of cereal-based foods under magnetic field intervention and establish a theoretical and practical foundation for applying PMF as a sustainable preservation technology in complex food systems.