Radio Frequency Heating‐Induced Multilevel Injury of Plodia Interpunctella in Goji Berries and Concomitant Quality Variations of Goji Berries

Plodia interpunctella is a major storage pest infesting goji berries. This study evaluated radio frequency (RF) heating as a disinfestation treatment and characterized the resulting larval injury profile and berry quality changes. Berries at 13% moisture with fifth‐instar larvae were RF‐heated (40.68 MHz, 80% setting = 2.5 kV/0.06 A, 110 mm gap). RF raised core from 24.5°C to 52°C in 14 min; hot‐air (HA) took 196 min. Mortality was 61.33% at 52°C, reaching 100% after 1.5 min intermittent holding. RF‐treated larvae showed more cuticular disruption, electrolyte leakage, lipid peroxidation, altered superoxide dismutase (SOD)/catalase (CAT), mitochondrial potential loss, adenosine triphosphate (ATP) depletion, and TUNEL positivity than HA‐treated or untreated larvae. Because the RF and HA regimens differed substantially in heating rate, total thermal exposure, and mortality, these endpoints represent treatment‐associated injury phenotypes rather than a causal cascade specific to RF. During 40 days of storage, RF‐treated berries generally retained color, texture, polysaccharides, total phenolics, DPPH radical‐scavenging activity, and tissue microstructure better than HA‐treated berries. Under the tested conditions, RF heating combined with brief intermittent holding produced 100% larval mortality while reducing processing time and quality losses relative to prolonged HA heating. Further work should verify cold‐spot control, efficacy across insect life stages, and process robustness at larger bed depths and pilot scale.