Arid Zone Journal of Engineering, Technology and Environment, April, 2017; Vol.

13(2):163-172
Copyright Faculty of Engineering, University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri, Nigeria.
Print ISSN: 1596-2490, Electronic ISSN: 2545-5818, www.azojete.com.ng

INFLUENCE OF MAGNETICALLY-TREATED WATER ON SOME NUTRITIONAL

QUALITIES OF IRRIGATED TOMATO FRUITS
K. O. Yusuf*, and A. O. Ogunlela
(Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria)
*Corresponding authors e-mail addresses: yusuf.ok@unilorin.edu.ng,
kamaru.yusuf@yahoo.com

Abstract
This study assessed the effect of magnetically-treated water on some nutritional qualities of irrigated tomato fruits
in term of vitamins A and C contents and concentration of Lead in the tomato fruits. The irrigation water was
treated with three magnetic flux densities 124, 319 and 719 gauss (G) produced from electromagnet. The tomato
seed (variety UC82B) was planted in 28 buckets in a transparent garden shed for 130 days and irrigated with
either magnetically-treated water (MTW) or non-magnetically-treated water (NMTW as the control experiment).
Vitamin A, Vitamin C and Lead (Pb) concentration were analyzed from the tomato fruits. The values of vitamin A
from tomato fruits irrigated with MTW treated by 124 (T1), 319 (T2) and 719 G (T3) were 0.68 mg/kg, 0.74 mg/kg
and 0.80 mg/kg, respectively while vitamin A from tomato fruits for NMTW (Tc) was 0.73 mg/kg. The mean
values of vitamin C of tomato fruits irrigated with MTW treated by 124 G, 319 G and 719 G were 117.30 mg/kg,
114.03 mg/kg and 115.10 mg/kg, respectively while vitamin C for NMTW was 113.93 mg/kg. The mean values of
Lead concentration in the tomato for MTW were 0.083, 0.090 and 0.083 mg/kg while that of NMTW was 0.07
mg/kg. The values of Lead concentration in the tomato fruits were below the Food and Agriculture
Organisation/World Health Organisation (FAO/WHO, 2011) permissible limits (0.1 mg/kg). MTW increased
uptake of lead by tomato fruit from the soil by 18.57 to 28.57 %. This uptake of Pb could make the tomato
unsuitable for consumption if the concentration of Pb above the WHO permissible limits.

Keywords: magnetic water treatment, irrigation, tomato quality, human consumption

1. Introduction
Magnetic treatment of water is a nonchemical method of water treatment and is of the new
technologies in agriculture that boosts crop yield (Mohammed and Ebead, 2013). It also
improves crop quality, increased minerals dissolvability of water such as Calcium, Nitrogen,
Potassium, iron and Lead which can enhance nutrients uptake of crops (Kronenberg, 1985;
Selim, 2008; Maheshwari and Grewal, 2009, Babu, 2010; Hozayn and Abdul-Qados, 2010).
The effective magnetic flux density for magnetic water treatment varied from 0.1 to 0.6 T
(Tesla) but 0.4 to 0.5 T could attain efficiency of 60 to 80% when applied on heater and low
pressure boilers Kochmarsky, 1996). Chern (2012) used a permanent magnet with magnetic
field strength of 0.55 T to treat irrigation water and observed significant differences among
growth and yield parameters of Okra that was irrigated with magnetically-treated water.

Magnetically treated water increases dissolvability of water for macro and micro elements in
the soil (Babu, 2010). Moussa (2011) concluded that magnetized water with 3000 G could
improve quantity and quality of common bean crop. Magnetically-treated water could also
stimulate defense system, photosynthetic activity, and translocation efficiency of
photoassimilates in common bean plants (Moussa, 2011). The uptake of the some elements
such as nitrogen, calcium and sulphur by tomato may improve the quality of tomato but when
an element like Lead that can cause cancer exceeded the permissible limits may affect the
quality of tomato (FAO/WHO, 2011). The objective of this study was to determine effect of
irrigating tomato plant with magnetically-treated water treated by three different magnetic flux
densities on the vitamins A and C contents, and concentration of Lead in tomato fruits.
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Yusuf and Ogunlela: Influence of magnetically-treated water on some nutritional qualities of
irrigated tomato fruits. AZOJETE, 13(2):163-172. ISSN 1596-2490; e-ISSN 2545-5818,
www.azojete.com.ng

2. Materials and Methods

2.1 Experimental site
This study was conducted in the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering,
University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria. Ilorin lies on the latitude 8o30N and
longitude 4o35E at an elevation of about 340 m above mean sea level (Ejieji and Adeniran,
2009). Ilorin is in the Southern Guinea Savannah Ecological zone of Nigeria with annual
rainfall of about 1,300 mm. The wet season begins towards the end of March and ends in
October while the dry season starts in November and ends in March (Ogunlela, 2001). The soil
used in this study was loamy sand taken from the same place at the back of the Department of
Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, University of Ilorin. The soil was properly mixed
together to have uniform soil and then put into 28 pots (28 buckets). Each of the buckets (pots)
has a diameter of 263 mm and 235 mm high filled with loamy sandy soil (13 kg). The bottom
of the bucket has 5 holes drilled with 5 mm drill to allow drainage of excess water from the
buckets.

The tomato was grown in a transparent garden shed between September, 2014 and January,
2015. The garden shed was 5.10 m wide, 8.00 m long, 2.90 m high at the centre and 2.10 m high at
the two sides. The top of garden shed was covered by a 2 mm thick transparent nylon to prevent
rain water or dew from getting to the tomato except the MTW or NMTW. The sides of the shed
were covered with nylon 1.10 m from the top to prevent rain water from getting into the shed from
the sides and front/end. The bottom of the shed was also covered with wire screen (wire mesh)
from the ground surface to the height of 1.00 m to prevent entrance of birds, goat, grasshopper and
other insects that can eat and destroy the tomato plant.

2.2 Magnetic flux density used as the treatments for irrigating tomato plant
Magnetic flux densities used for treatment of the irrigation water in this study were 124, 319
and 719 gauss (G) produced from the electromagnet. The electromagnet has a variable voltage
unit for adjustment of voltage and current flowing though the electromagnetic device. The
three magnetic flux densities were the treatments and a control experiment (tomato irrigated
with non-magnetically-treated water). These four treatments 124, 319, 719 G and control
experiment were labeled as T1, T2, T3 and Tc, respectively. The north and south poles of the
electromagnetic cores on the treatment pipe were alternated for effective treatment of the
irrigation water by the magnetic field as stated by (McMahon, 2006). The irrigation water was
allowed to pass through the magnetic treatment chamber (pipe) for duration of 113 s for
effective treatment by magnetic field as pointed out by Podlesny et al. (2004) that 15 s was okay
while Aladjadjiyan (2007) indicated that 60 to 600 s was appropriate for magnetic treatment of
water. When water passes through the magnetic field, its structure and some physical
characteristics such as density, salt solution capacity, and deposition ratio of solid particles will
be modified (Higashitani et al., 1993).

2.3 Experimental set up and determination of irrigation water requirement

Tomato seeds (8 seeds per pot) were sown in 28 pots (buckets) in a transparent garden shed but
thinned at 2 weeks to 2 stands per pot and allowed to grow for 130 days (23rd September 2014
to 30th January 2015). The spacing between the tomato plants were 70 cm while spacing
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ISSN 1596-2490; e-ISSN 2545-5818; www.azojete.com.ng

between the pots were 45 cm. The water used for irrigating the tomato plant was obtained from
University of Ilorin Dam. The water was allowed to flow through the pipe surrounded by
electromagnet as shown in Figures 1 and 2 and becomes magnetically-treated water (MTW).
Some of the chemical properties of the soil and water before and after passing through
magnetic field were shown Table 1. Each treatment (124, 319, 719 G and NMTW) was
replicated seven times. A 1.30 litres of water after being treated with either 124, 319 or 719 G
was applied to the tomato in the pot at 3 days irrigation interval but this irrigation interval
reduced to 2 days at flowering stage to meet the high water requirement. Crop
evapotranspiration (ETc), depth of water required to bring the soil to field capacity at the
beginning of the experiment (DF), available water (AW), wilting point (WP), net depth of
irrigation (dn), irrigation interval (Iv), volume of water required by tomato plant in three (3)
days irrigation interval for two stands of tomato plant (Vd) were determined using Equations
(1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6) and (7), respectively given by Schwab et al. (1993) but Equation (4)
by Sani (2003).

Figure 1: Water storage tank connected to the electromagnet and a fan for cooling the
system

Figure 2: Magnetically-treated water in the bucket from the Electromagnet

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Yusuf and Ogunlela: Influence of magnetically-treated water on some nutritional qualities of
irrigated tomato fruits. AZOJETE, 13(2):163-172. ISSN 1596-2490; e-ISSN 2545-5818,
www.azojete.com.ng

Table 1: Chemical properties of the soil and water used for irrigating the tomato plant
Chemical properties of soil Chemical properties of water (mg/L)
Element Mean Element MTW NMTW
pH 5.8 pH 7.46 7.36
+2
N (%) 0.64 Ca 3.197 3.130
+2
P (mg/kg) 2.74 Mg 1.229 1.285
2+ +
Ca (cmol/kg) 1.37 K 0.888 0.885
2+ +
Mg (cmol/kg) 0.84 Na 80.55 81.91
+ +2
K (cmol/kg) 2.24 Pb 0.297 0.300
+ -
Na (cmol/kg) 1.15 N (NO3 ) 43.07 42.73
-2
Organic matter (%) 1.31 SO4 50.06 47.80
Organic carbon (%) 0.86 P 0.654 0.670
-6
C.E.C 5.74 Viscosity(x10 Ns/m) 1.773 1.815
MTW = Magnetically-treated water, NMTW = Non-magnetically-treated water
(1)

( ) (2)

( ) (3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

where: ETc is the crop evapotranspiration (mm/day), kc is the crop coefficient, ETo is the
reference evapotranspiration (mm/day), DF is the depth required to bring moisture content to
FC at the beginning of the experiment (mm), b is the soil bulk density (g/cm3), w is the
density of water (g/cm3), FC is the field capacity of the soil (%), is the initial moisture
content of the soil prior to irrigation (%), Db is the depth of the bucket (mm), Aw is the
available water (mm), WP is the wilting point (%), Iv is the irrigation interval (day), dn is the
net depth of irrigation (mm), Pn is the percentage of available water supplied during irrigation
(fraction, 50% = 0.5), Cc is the crop canopy but taken as 100 % (1), Vd is the volume of water
required by tomato plant (litre/day) and Ab is the area of the bucket (m2).
F in Equation (4) is a factor ranging from 2.0 - 2.4 depending on the percentage of silt in the
soil. The value of F used was 2.2 and WP was calculated to be 12.26 % when FC was 26.98%.
The values of crop coefficient (Kc) used was 1.15 because Ufoegbune et al. (2012) indicated
that Kc of tomato at flowering stage is 1.15. Reference evapotranspiration (ETo) of Ilorin for
the North Central zone from the graph by Chineke et al. (2011) for peak value during the
month of November of the year is 4.4 mm/day, Ab = 0.05433m2.

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Three samples of tomato were randomly harvested after 130 days from each tomato irrigated
with magnetically-treated water treated by 124, 319 and 719 G and the nutritional qualities of
tomato fruits in term of vitamins A, and C, and Lead were analyzed. The vitamins A and C,
and Lead concentrations in the tomato irrigated with nonmagnetically-treated water were also
analyzed.

2.1 Determination of vitamin A

The method of Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC) (2000) was used to
determine Vitamin A. It was determined by taken 1 g of the sample of tomato and macerated
with 20 ml of petroleum ether. The solution was evaporated to dryness and 0.2 ml of
chloroform acetic anhydride was added. A 2 ml of TCA chloroform were also added and the
absorbance measured at 620 nm.

2.2 Determination of vitamin C

The AOAC (2000) method was also used to determine Vitamin C. The method involved the
addition of aliquots of 100 ml of the prepared juice to equal volume of Metaphosporic acid -
acetic acid (HPO3-HOAC) solution to a total volume ml. Aliquots of prepared solution
containing 2 mg of ascorbic acid was pipetted into a conical flask. This was titrated against
2,6-dichloroindophenol in the burette to a light colour but distinct rose pink. Blank
determination was made using HPO3 - HOAC solution and water. The vitamin C content was
determined using Equation (8) by AOAC (2000).

( ) (8)
where VC is the Vitamin C content in tomato, T is the average titre value for sample (ml), B is
the average titre value for blank (ml), F is the weight of Ascorbic Acid (mg) which is
equivalent to 1.0 ml indophenols solution, E is the number of g or mg assayed, V is the
Volume of initial assay solution (ml) and Y is the Volume of sample aliquot (Ascorbic acid)
titrated (ml) and the term aliquot in Chemistry means a known volume of liquid that represents
a part of some larger volume.
2.3 Determination of Lead concentration
The tomato was ground (wet tomato paste) and sieved through 2 mm sieve. A 2 g of the sample
was weighed and heated to dryness in a well-cleaned porcelain crucible between 450 and 500
O
C in a hot plate. The ash content was then dissolved in 5 ml HNO3, HCL and H2O in ratio of
1:2:3, respectively and this was heated on a hot plate until brown fume disappeared. A 5 ml of
deionized water was added and heated until a colourless solution was obtained. The mineral
solution was transferred into 100 ml volumetric flask and filtered through Whatman No 42
filter paper. This solution was then analyzed by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS)
as given by AOAC (2000).

2.4 Statistical analysis of quality of tomato by paired t test

Statistical analysis of the nutritional qualities of tomato were determined using paired t test
method to check if the influence of magnetically-treated water was statistically significant on
the nutritional qualities of tomato fruits in term vitamins A and C, and lead concentration. The
difference between the two mean of the results was determined which was used to compute the
standard deviation, standard error and t test value using Equations (9), (10a) or (10b), (11)
167
Yusuf and Ogunlela: Influence of magnetically-treated water on some nutritional qualities of
irrigated tomato fruits. AZOJETE, 13(2):163-172. ISSN 1596-2490; e-ISSN 2545-5818,
www.azojete.com.ng

and (12), respectively as given by Montgomery (1998). The calculated values of the t-test and
that of table values were shown in Table 4.

(9)

( )
(10a)

( )
(10b)

(11)

(12)
where is the e the i ere e r the t x1 and x2, is the su ti , is the
u ber the tre t e ts ( bserv ti s), is the st r evi ti , Er is the standard error
and tcal is the calculated value of t which was compared with the Table value of tTab t = 5 %
sig i i t level but 2.5 % ( = 0.05/2 = 0.025) for paired t-test.

3. Results and Discussion

The quality of tomato was assessed based on the percentage contents of vitamins A and C
present in the tomato fruits irrigated with magnetically-treated water and nonmagnetically-
treated water. The negative effect of magnetic treatment of water was also assessed based on
the concentration of Lead (Pb) in the tomato fruits which can cause cancer to man after a
prolong period of consumption. The vitamins A and C contents and Pb concentration of the
tomato fruits were higher with tomato plants irrigated by MTW than tomato plants irrigated by
NMTW as shown in Tables 2 and 3. The mean values of vitamins A and C in Table 3 from
Table 2 were slightly higher with the tomato plant irrigated with magnetically-treated water
than tomato irrigated with nonmagnetically-treated water. The increments were not
statistically significant by paired t-test t p () 5 % s sh w i ANOVA Table 4. This
means that the tomato produced with magnetically-treated water has higher nutritional values
than the tomato from nonmagnetically-treated water though not significant. This results
obtained was in agreement with results obtained by Rawabdeh et al. (2014) that magnetically-
treated water resulted in increased in Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potassium uptake and their
translocation in plant. Mohammed and Ebead (2013) also concluded that magnetically-treated
irrigation water increased available of soil Phosphorous in celery and snow pea. This increased
in uptake of the macroelements might increase the nutritional values (vitamins A and C) of the
tomato fruits. Tomato fruits from MTW were bigger than the tomato fruits from NMTW as
shown in Figure 3.

Similarly, MTW could also increased uptake of Lead (Pb) as pointed out by Rawabdeh et al.
(2014) that magnetically-treated water resulted in increased in Nitrogen, Phosphorous and
Potassium uptake and their translocation in plant. The Lead concentration in tomato fruits was
higher with tomato plant irrigated with magnetically-treated water than the tomato plant
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ISSN 1596-2490; e-ISSN 2545-5818; www.azojete.com.ng

irrigated with nonmagnetically-treated water. The concentration of Pb in the tomato fruit was
statistically significant because the calculated value of t-test was 6.569 while Table value of
t-test was 4.303 at p 5 % ( equ l t 0.05) but = 0.05/2 pair t-test, = 0.025). The higher
concentration of Pb in the tomato fruit was in agreement with the results obtained by Noran et
al.(1996) and Babu (2010) that magnetically-treated water increased dissolvability of water for
plant minerals and increased nutrients uptake by plant. The value of Lead in the tomato fruits
irrigated with magnetically-treated water varied from 0.083 0.090 mg/kg while the value of
Lead in the tomato fruit irrigated with non-magnetically-treated water was 0.07 m/kg. The
values of Lead (Pb2+) in the tomato fruits irrigated with both magnetically and non-
magnetically-treated water were less than the permissible limits as given by FAO/WHO 2011
(0.1 mg/kg) for fruit vegetables (tomato) as shown in Table 3. The tomato was suitable for
consumption without causing cancer to man because the value of Pb concentration (0.07 m/kg)
was less than the WHO permissible limits (0.1 mg/kg).

Figure 3: Sample of tomato fruits from magnetically-treated water (the 2 samples by the right)
and non-magnetic-treated water with the biggest sizes after 95 days (1 sample by the left)

Table 2: Tomato quality based on vitamins A and C, and Lead concentrations

Treatment Vitamins (mg/kg) Lead Vitamins (mg/kg) Lead Vitamins (mg/kg) Lead
(mg/kg) (mg/kg) (mg/kg)
A C Pb2+ A C Pb2+ A C Pb2+
Sample 1 Sample 2 Sample 3
0.82 120.4 0.09 0.80 116.2 0.10 0.81 114.4 0.08
T1 0.79 121.6 0.08 0.82 112.4 0.09 0.70 112.6 0.07
0.80 118.5 0.08 0.84 110.2 0.09 0.82 110.6 0.08
Mean 0.80 120.2 0.08 0.82 112.6 0.09 0.78 112.5 0.08
0.72 117.2 0.07 0.80 118.4 0.08 0.68 112.4 0.09
T2 0.80 114.6 0.09 0.76 110.6 0.10 0.62 112.3 0.09
0.68 118.8 0.10 0.81 111.2 0.10 0.80 111.4 0.10
Mean 0.73 116,7 0.09 0.79 113.4 0.09 0.70 112.0 0.09
0.69 112.6 0.09 0.69 116.4 0.10 0.59 116.3 0.08
T3 0.75 110.8 0.08 0.68 121.2 0.09 0.67 121.6 0.09
0.69 116.4 0.06 0.69 120.4 0.08 0.66 120.0 0.08
Mean 0.71 113.3 0.08 0.69 119.3 0.09 0.64 119.3 0.08
0.69 112.6 0.06 0.75 116.5 0.07 0.68 116.4 0.07
Tc 0.80 115.6 0.07 0.81 111.8 0.08 0.63 110.9 0.08
0.75 116.4 0.08 0.80 112.4 0.07 0.64 112.5 0.06
Mean 0.75 114.9 0.07 0.79 113.6 0.07 0.65 113.3 0.07
T1 = Tomato from magnetic water treated with 719 G, T2 = 443G, T3 = 124 G and
Tc = (tomato from non-magnetically treated water)

169
Yusuf and Ogunlela: Influence of magnetically-treated water on some nutritional qualities of
irrigated tomato fruits. AZOJETE, 13(2):163-172. ISSN 1596-2490; e-ISSN 2545-5818,
www.azojete.com.ng

Table 3: Mean values of vitamin A, vitamin C and lead in the tomato

Treatment Vitamins (mg/kg) Heavy metal (mg/kg)
A C Pb2+
T1 0.800 115.10 0.083
T2 0.740 114.03 0.090
T3 0.680 117.30 0.083
Tc 0.730 113.93 0.070
FAO 2011/WHO 2011 0.1
T1, T2, T3 and Tc are as previously defined in Table 1

Table 4: ANOVA for the tomato quality irrigated with MTW and NMTW
Parameter Degree of tCal tTab t = 0.05 Effect
freedom (/2 = 0.025)
Vitamin A 2 0.289 4.303 Not significant
Vitamin C 2 1.615 4.303 Not significant
Lead 2 6.569 4.303 Significant
tCal = calculated value of pair t-test, tTab = Table value of pair t-test
4. Conclusion
Magnetic treatment of irrigation water (magnetically-treated water) increased vitamins A and C
contents in tomato fruits by 1.37 9.59 % and 0.09 2.96 %, respectively but the increments
were not statistically significant by paired t-test t p () 5%. Magnetically-treated water also
increased Lead (Pb) concentration in tomato fruits by 18.57 to 28.57 % and this increment was
st tisti lly sig i i t t p () 5%. MTW increased uptake of Lead by tomato plant from the
soil but the Lead concentration in the tomato fruit was below the permissible limits of
FAO/WHO (2011) and tomato fruits irrigated by magnetically-treated water in this study was
suitable for consumption without causing any disease to man.
Recommendation
More research should be conducted on the effect of magnetically treated water on the uptake of
other heavy metals such as Arsenic, Cadmium, Copper, Zinc, Manganese, Mercury and other
elements that can cause certain diseases to man.
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