J Food Process Preserv. 2019;00:e14325. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/jfpp | 1 of 12 https://doi.org/10.1111/jfpp.14325 © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 1 | INTRODUCTION Cherry tomato (L. esculentum), a fruit with various beneficial nutri- ents such as vitamins, beta-carotene, lycopene, and other bioactive components, is one of the most important fruits for fresh con- sumption (Yun et al., 2015). However, due to its rapid ripeness or pathogenic invasion during storage, it makes the fruit to be highly perishable, which is creating new demands on its quality control during production (Fagundes et al., 2015; Hong & Wang, 2014). The application of heat treatment to improve the shelf life of fruit is the most common approach used to inactivate microor- ganisms and enzymes in agricultural products (Mason, Paniwnyk, Chemat, & Maryline, 2010). Unfortunately, treatment time, tempera- ture, and potency of treatment are related to the rate of nutrient Received: 14 August 2019 | Revised: 10 October 2019 | Accepted: 31 October 2019 DOI: 10.1111/jfpp.14325 ORIGINAL ARTICLE Combination of thermal and dual-frequency sonication processes for optimum microbiological and antioxidant properties in cherry tomato Abdullateef Taiye Mustapha 1 | Cunshan Zhou 1,2 | Hafida Wahia 1 | Frederick Sarpong 1 | Mustapha Muhammad Nasiru 3 | Yusuf Bashir Adegbemiga 4 | Haile Ma 1 1 School of Food and Biological Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, PR China 2 School of Biological and Food Engineering, Chuzhou University, Chuzhou, PR China 3 College of Food Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, PR China 4 School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, PR China Correspondence Cunshan Zhou, School of Food and Biological Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212013, PR China. Email: zhcs@ujs.edu.cn Funding information Social Development Program (General Project) of Jiangsu, Grant/Award Number: BE2016779 and NY2017015; Policy Guidance Program (Research Cooperation) of Jiangsu, Grant/Award Number: BY2016072-03; National Key Research and Development Program of China, Grant/Award Number: 2016YFD0400705-04, 2017YFD0400903- 01 and 2018YFD0700101-02; Science and Technology Major Project of Anhui, Grant/ Award Number: 18030701152 Abstract Cherry tomato fruits were treated with three dual-frequency ultrasound (US) at dif- ferent temperature and time. The three treatment variables, that is, dual-frequency US, temperature, and time were optimized with the aid of response surface meth- odology (RSM). About 20/40 kHz, 52°C, and 6 min were the optimum condition ob- tained for total bacteria count (TBC, 1.08 log cfu/g), firmness (15.90 N), and total phenolic content (TPC, 34.34 mg GAE/100 g). All the linear relations of the treatment variables showed a significantly negative and positive effect on the TBC and TPC, re- spectively, while positive significant effects were obtained for some of the relations of the firmness. Hence dual-frequency sonication is effective for microbial safety and maintaining the quality of cherry tomato. Also, RSM was found to be a useful tool in setting and optimizing the variables responsible for sonication treatment. Practical applications Thermosonication (ultrasonication and heat) has been applied toward improving the microbial safety and nutritional quality of vegetables and fruit. However, factors such as power, frequency, time, temperature, etc. determine the efficiency of its opera- tion. Controlling these factors is difficult and therefore requires a robust and efficient optimization tool in determining their effects (individual and interactions) on food during treatment. In this study, response surface methodology provides the solution in settling and optimizing the variables for the sonication treatment. Besides, the remarkable result obtained in this work offers an alternative to the combined use of ultrasound and chemical in food industries.