Wax apple is a typical cold sensitive fruit and prone to chilling injury (CI) during cold storage. This study investigated the effects and mechanisms of cold shock treatment (CST) combined with salicylic acid (SA) treatment in wax apple. Wax apple was treated with CST combined with SA and stored at 5 ℃ for 16 days, followed by a 2-d shelf life simulation at 25 ℃ to assess CI-related performance. By response surface methodology optimization, 20 min CST + 1 mM SA was determined as the best combined treatment, which significantly reduced CI, browning, and maintained nutritional quality. The combined treatment inhibited the decrease in antioxidant enzyme activities and enhanced free radical scavenging capacity, reducing reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation and oxidative damage of wax apple. Meanwhile, combined treatment reduced the activities of phospholipase D (PLD), phospholipase C (PLC), and lipase, delayed the decrease in unsaturated fat content, inhibited membrane lipid peroxidation, and maintained the integrity and fluidity of the cell membrane. Moreover, combined treatment inhibited the activities of cell wall-degrading enzymes such as polygalacturonase (PG) and pectin methylesterase (PME), maintained high soluble pectin content, and inhibited the accumulation of hemicellulose and cellulose, thus maintaining the stability of cell wall structure, enhancing cold tolerance and delaying fruit softening. Collectively, CST combined with SA treatment maintained the integrity of the cell membrane and cell wall by regulating related metabolic processes, thereby reducing the postharvest CI of wax apple.

Postharvest losses of fruits and vegetables represent a global concern, as they are susceptible to spoilage and deterioration. In recent years, numerous studies have explored the effects of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) treatment on the postharvest preservation of fruits and vegetables. However, due to variations in experimental materials, treatment protocols, and detection parameters, no consensus has yet been reached regarding its efficacy. This study systematically analyzed the overall effects of H2S treatment on improving the quality of various fruits and vegetables and enhancing postharvest storability, while also elucidating the underlying mechanisms. A total of 54 articles were included, from which 43 parameters associated with postharvest quality and stress resistance were extracted in strict adherence to the predefined inclusion criteria. The results demonstrated that H2S treatment enhanced firmness, total chlorophyll (CC), titratable acid (TA), and ascorbic acid (AsA) in postharvest fruits and vegetables, while significantly reducing chilling injury (CI) incidence, weight loss, respiration rate, and ethylene production. Meanwhile, H2S preserved the structural integrity of cell walls and cell membranes, ensuring the stability of cellular energy metabolism. Additionally, H2S promoted the accumulation of endogenous H2S, non-enzymatic antioxidants, and enzymatic antioxidants. Furthermore, significant correlations were found between CI and CC, TA, and AsA in postharvest fruits and vegetables. Multiple linear regression analysis also identified ascorbate peroxidase and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase as key indicators for establishing a stable multivariate model with CI. In conclusion, this systematic review clarifies the efficacy of H2S in reducing postharvest loss and preserving produce freshness, and provides new insights for AI-assisted early warning of CI in fruits and vegetables.

Carotenoids serve as key quality indicators in yellow peaches, and enhancing their content is crucial for improving overall fruit quality. In this study, yellow peaches were treated with 1 mM abscisic acid (ABA) or 0.5 mM fluridone (Flu), an ABA biosynthesis inhibitor. ABA treatment upregulated the expression of key carotenoid biosynthesis genes, including Phytoene Synthase (PpPSY), Phytoene Desaturase (PpPDS), Zeta-Carotene Desaturase (PpZDS), β-Carotene Hydroxylase (PpCHYB), Lycopene β-Cyclase (PpLCYB), and Zeaxanthin Epoxidase (PpZEP), while downregulating the carotenoid degradation-related gene 9-Cis-Epoxycarotenoid Dioxygenase 1 (PpNCED1). This coordinated regulation promoted zeaxanthin, lutein, β-cryptoxanthin, and β-carotene, leading to a significant increase in total carotenoid content. In contrast, Flu treatment produced opposite effects, suppressing carotenoid biosynthesis and accumulation. The negative regulatory role of the transcription factor PpZAT10 in carotenoid accumulation was confirmed through transient overexpression and virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) in peach fruits, as well as transgenic overexpression and CRISPR/Cas9-mediated knockout in peach callus. Furthermore, yeast one-hybrid (Y1H), electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA), and dual-luciferase assays demonstrated that PpZAT10 directly binds to the promoter of PpPDS to repress its transcription and simultaneously activates the expression of PpNCED1 by binding to its promoter. These findings elucidate the molecular mechanism by which PpZAT10 mediates ABA-induced carotenoid accumulation in yellow peaches, providing a novel strategy for enhancing carotenoid content and, consequently, fruit quality.

Ordinary nanocellulose films suffer from poor barrier properties, rendering them ineffective at preventing microbial invasion of food. Herein, double-embedded modified silica/copper nanoparticles/E2H preservative (NE) was obtained by in-situ immobilized copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) and simultaneously loading trans-2-hexenal (E2H) onto modified hollow mesoporous silica through imine bonds and pore channels. Subsequently, a high-barrier nanocellulose-based film (NE/CNF) capable of sustained release of copper active factors and E2H was developed by integrating the NE preservative with nanocellulose. The results demonstrate that modified silica exhibits controlled-release effects on both active factors: the cumulative release of E2H reached 77.98% within 7 days, while that of copper active factors reached 0.67% over 15 days. Benefiting from this controlled-release design, NE/CNF film has excellent antibacterial and antioxidant activities. Additionally, NE/CNF films possess excellent mechanical and barrier properties, especially showing a very low oxygen transmission rate (0.388 10-8 g/s·m2). Therefore, NE/CNF films demonstrate effective preservation performance on cherries, significantly extending their shelf life to 12 days at room temperature.

The further application of copper nanoparticles is limited by the problems of being prone to agglomeration, migration risk and poor interface compatibility. Herein, copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) were immobilized using Ti3C2Tx MXene modified with (3-aminopropyl) triethoxysilane to prepare MXene-NH2/CuNPs antimicrobial agent. Subsequently, MXene-NH2/CuNPs was combined with chitosan and nanocellulose to prepare CTNMCu film. The modified MXene-NH2 efficiently immobilized CuNPs and regulated their release, endowing the MXene-NH2/CuNPs with sustained antimicrobial activity under photothermal-chemical synergistic effect. Furthermore, the interfacial interlocking microstructure formed by chitosan and nanocellulose through electrostatic and hydrogen bonding, as well as the multidimensional interwoven “brick-wall” structure formed between them and MXene-NH2 nanosheets, endowed the CTNMCu film with excellent barrier properties (oxygen transmission rate 1.79 cm3/(m2·24h·0.1 MPa)), UV shielding performance (transmittance <10%)) and mechanical properties. Surprisingly, although the CTNMCu film slowed the release of copper active factor, it still exhibited excellent broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity. Moreover, these properties endowed the CTNMCu film with exceptional food preservation capabilities, extending the shelf life of blueberries by 6 days. Hence, this study provided a valuable strategy for the development of high-performance food bioplastic active packaging.

During the preservation process, it is crucial to minimize the invasion of microorganisms, regulate the respiratory and metabolic activities of fruits, and how to coordinate the two to maintain the quality of fruits. Herein, modified hollow mesoporous silica nanospheres (NH2-HMSN) was used to graft cinnamaldehyde (CA) and immobilize silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), synthesizing NH2-HMSN@CA/Ag preservative. Subsequently, the NH2-HMSN@CA/Ag was combined with chitosan and polyethylene oxide to obtain nanofiber film (CPNS@CA/Ag) by electrospinning, and utilized for the cherry preservation. The intricate physical entanglement and robust hydrogen bonding interactions between chitosan and polyethylene oxide, coupled with synergistic interfacial engagement with NH2-HMSN@CA/Ag, collectively confer the CPNS@CA/Ag nanofibers with three-dimensional network structure. The unique nanofiber structure endows CPNS@CA/Ag film with controllable oxygen (4.11 g/m2·h·kpa) and moisture (357.9 g·mm/m2·d·kpa) permeability and a long-lasting release effect (88.81% of CA and 7.76% of AgNPs released in 7 days). Crucially, the CPNS@CA/Ag film demonstrates potent antioxidant activity, hydrophobic performance (water contact angle is 105.6°), antimicrobial activity (99.99% inhibition rate), and favorable safety profile (silver residual amount < 0.03 mg/kg). These performances confer strong freshness-preserving efficacy to the CPNS@CA/Ag nanofiber film packaging for cherries, thereby extending the storage duration at 25 °C to 12 days. This study presents the development of a modified silica-reinforced chitosan-based electrospun film, which enables the controlled release of both cinnamaldehyde and AgNPs, exhibiting enhanced biosafety and preservation efficacy for postharvest fruit application.

The susceptibility of loquat fruit to cold stress often leads to lignification. Phytosulfokine alpha (PSK alpha) could improve cold resistance of loquat fruit, but the underlying molecular mechanism of cold-induced lignification regulation remains unknown. In this work, PSK alpha treatment reduced the activities and gene expressions of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL), 4-coumarate:CoA ligase (4CL), cinnamate 4-hydroxylase (C4H), and peroxidase (POD), suppressed the enhancement in firmness and lignin content, and maintained higher extractable juice, thereby mitigating cold-induced lignification of loquat fruit. Besides, PSK alpha decreased the cold stress-induced expression of EjWRKY33 and EjbHLH77. Additionally, EjWRKY33 and EjbHLH77 from loquat fruit were identified and characterized. EjWRKY33 was capable of binding to the W-box in the promoters of EjPAL1-like, EjC4H1, Ej4CL5-like, and EjPOD51-like to activate their transcription. Further investigation showed that EjbHLH77 could interact with EjWRKY33, and this interaction increased EjWRKY33-mediated transcriptional activation of EjPAL1-like, EjC4H1, Ej4CL5-like, and EjPOD51-like. Transient co-expression of EjbHLH77 and EjWRKY33 in tobacco leaves resulted in higher expressions of NbPAL2, NbC4H, Nb4CL, and NbPOD51 and higher lignin content compared to the transient expression of EjWRKY33 alone. In summary, these findings indicated that PSK alpha treatment reduced lignin accumulation through suppressing the transcriptional activation of lignin biosynthesis-related genes mediated by the EjbHLH77-EjWRKY33 module, thereby attenuating chilling-induced lignification in loquat fruit.

During food storage and transportation, products are prone to microbial contamination and oxidative deterioration, which seriously affects their safety and shelf life. Therefore, it is necessary to develop adjustable intelligent active food packaging to address the above issues. Metal complexes exhibit advantages such as designable structures and diversified mechanisms of action, which can achieve efficient, long-lasting, and intelligently controllable antibacterial and antioxidant functions. In this review, we systematically summarize the research progress of coordination-type antibacterial/antioxidant metal complexes represented by silver, copper, zinc, and iron and focus on analyzing the effects of different coordination structures, ligand types, and carrier forms on their biological activity and stability. Among these metal complexes, silver complexes exhibit strong antibacterial activity; copper complexes offer a favorable balance between activity and cost; zinc complexes demonstrate outstanding biocompatibility; and iron complexes show excellent antioxidant activity. At the same time, the antibacterial/antioxidant mechanisms of metal complexes are elaborately described, and the relationship between their physical-chemical structure and properties is deeply discussed. Furthermore, the applications of metal coordination-type active materials in the preservation and packaging of fruits and vegetables, meat products, and other foods are discussed. Nevertheless, despite the considerable application potential of these materials, several critical challenges persist in their practical implementation, such as the potential toxicity of metal ions, migration behavior, scalability of production, and associated costs. Finally, in response to these challenges, future research directions for metal coordination-type materials in the field of food preservation and packaging are proposed.

Conventional packaging is insufficient for simultaneous food preservation and spoilage indication in food supply chains. Herein, a nanocellulose-based gel film integrating highly sensitive monitoring and preservation (CMEH) was fabricated by using anthocyanins and ZIF-8-NH2 immobilized trans-2-hexenal (E2H) under the regulation of hot-cold dual drying. During this process, the release rates of trans-2-hexenal immobilized by modified ZIF-8 was about 80% after 168 h, while that of free trans-2-hexenal reached nearly 90% after 24 h, effectively regulating its release. Furthermore, the chromogenic agent in the CMEH was endowed with stable and highly sensitive capture ability for volatile acidic and alkaline due to the regulation of the microstructure by the thermal-cold phase transition of the solvent, especially alkaline volatiles with a detection limit of 1 mM. Additionally, the gel film presented excellent antibacterial and antioxidant activities due to the combined effect of ZIF-8-NH2 and E2H. More importantly, the CMEH gel film as food packaging was universal, providing highly efficient preservation effects and sensitive monitoring capabilities for both blueberries and pork. Therefore, the prepared CMEH gel films are conducive to expanding the application and development of nanocellulose and active substances in modern food packaging, especially in the construction of highly sensitive monitoring packaging.

Polyamine (PAs) degradation serves as a key pathway for gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) synthesis in plants. While calcium chloride (CaCl2) treatment is known to induce GABA accumulation in fresh-cut carrots, the underlying molecular mechanism regulating PAs metabolism remains unclear. In this study, CaCl2 treatment increased calmodulin (CaM), GABA, [Ca2+ ]cyt, ornithine, arginine and histidine contents in fresh-cut carrots. It concurrently enhanced the degradation of PAs by upregulating the transcript levels and enzyme activities of arginine decarboxylase (ADC), polyamine oxidase (PAO), and diamine oxidase (DAO). Conversely, treatment with the CaM antagonist trifluoperazine resulted in lower GABA content, which was achieved by reducing the activities and expression levels of ADC and PAO. Furthermore, CaCl2 treatment induced the expression of DcCAMTA3, DcCAMTA4, DcCAMTA6, and DcCML8. Moreover, DcCAMTA3, DcCAMTA4, and DcCAMTA6 up-regulated the transcription of the DcADC and DcPAO1 genes, thereby enhancing GABA biosynthesis. Further analysis revealed that DcCAMTA6 protein directly binds to the CGTG cis-element in the promoters of DcADC and DcPAO1 and cooperates with DcCML8 to activate their expression. Therefore, our findings indicate that CaCl2 treatment enhances the conversion of PAs to GABA through the DcCAMTA6-DcCML8-mediated upregulation of DcADC and DcPAO1 expression. This finding expands the theoretical basis for understanding GABA accumulation induced by CaCl2 treatment in fresh-cut carrots.

beta-Aminobutyric acid (BABA) is widely recognized for priming broad-spectrum disease resistance in fruit crops, yet its receptor in fruit tissues remains largely unidentified. In this study, we identify the AspRS homolog PpIBI1 as a functional BABA receptor in peach fruit that transduces the initial perception signal into two temporally distinct defense modules. Upon BABA treatment, PpIBI1 is recruited to the pattern-recognition receptor (PRR) coreceptor PpBAK1, triggering activation of the PpRac1/2-PpRBOHD/F component and a rapid burst of reactive oxygen species (ROS)-a hallmark of early pattern-triggered immunity (PTI)-like responses. Meanwhile, nuclear interaction between PpIBI1 and PpTCP2 enhances the transcription of salicylic acid (SA) biosynthesis genes, leading to systemic acquired resistance (SAR) activation. Molecular evidence from overexpression and CRISPR/ Cas9 knockout confirms that PpIBI1 exerts a dual function by mediating the early ROS burst and later activating the SA-dependent defense. Collectively, these findings outline a sequential pathway in which PpIBI1 activates PpBAK1 to initiate a PTI-related ROS burst, followed by nuclear interaction with PpTCP2 to induce SA-dependent SAR. This pathway integrates local and systemic immunity in postharvest peach fruit and highlights PpIBI1 as a key target for postharvest disease control.

The global food supply chain faces triple challenges: economic inefficiency from avoidable waste, public health risks from foodborne pathogens, and unsustainable environmental impacts from persistent petrochemical packaging. Conventional active packaging partially mitigates spoilage by releasing functional compounds, but its efficacy is limited by volatile active ingredients, molecular instability, and initial burst release. Consumers urgently demand next-generation intelligent active food packaging that combines controlled release, real-time monitoring, and environmental friendliness to reduce food waste, health threats, and plastic pollution. This review analyzes how release-based active packaging achieves corrective regulation of the microenvironment (encompassing food, packaging, and headspace) via different release rates and stimuli-responsive mechanisms. It further introduces how visual intelligent packaging enables real-time monitoring and timely quality assessment via functional components. For the first time, this work systematically elucidates advancements in controllable-release visually integrated smart food packaging, highlighting its role in addressing full-chain integration challenges (real-time monitoring, precise release, data interaction). To achieve commercial viability for intelligent active food packaging systems, further research and development must address critical challenges, including cost-effectiveness, precise and controllable release of functional active agents, consumer acceptability, and comprehensive toxicological risks associated with functional active compounds within packaging materials.

Extracellular self-DNA (sDNA) has been proposed as a priming cue in plant immunity, yet its efficacy and regulatory components in harvested fruit remain poorly defined. Here, we show that fragmented sDNA establishes an infection-dependent primed state in postharvest grape berries that restricts gray mold caused by the necrotroph Botrytis cinerea. Compared with inoculation alone, sDNA-pretreated berries exhibited reduced lesion development and fungal biomass, accompanied by enhanced jasmonic acid (JA) accumulation and partial retention of total anthocyanins during infection. Transcript analysis further indicated that sDNA primes infection-induced transcription of JA biosynthetic genes and JA-responsive defense markers, and is associated with stronger and more sustained induction of core anthocyanin biosynthetic genes. Tandem mass tag (TMT)-based quantitative proteomics revealed that sDNA reprograms the infection-associated proteome, with enrichment of plant-pathogen interaction and phenylpropanoid biosynthesis pathways. Integrating proteomic signals with functional assays highlighted VvETC3, a CPC-like single-repeat R3-MYB, as a putative negative regulator linking JA defense with anthocyanin-related metabolism. VvETC3 bound promoter fragments from representative JA-related genes and key anthocyanin biosynthetic genes in EMSA and yeast one-hybrid assays, and repressed promoter-driven transcription in dual-luciferase assays. Consistently, Arabidopsis plants overexpressing VvETC3 showed attenuated sDNA-enabled resistance to B. cinerea and reduced JA and anthocyanin accumulation upon challenge. Collectively, these results support extracellular sDNA as a priming cue in postharvest grape berries and implicate a VvETC3-mediated repressive layer in shaping JA- and anthocyanin-linked responses during gray mold development.

The regulation of food quality directly affects public health and the development of the food industry, while traditional quality control technologies often struggle to provide real-time and online monitoring. However, coordination chemistry can be used to design intelligent and efficient methods for food quality control by taking advantage of the specific interactions between metal ions and ligands. By summarizing the latest research, the core mechanisms and cutting-edge applications of coordination chemistry have been comprehensively outlined in this field. This paper first focuses on analyzing the basic principles of coordination chemistry, such as molecular recognition, signal transduction, dynamic regulation, and the theory of soft and hard acids and bases. Subsequently, centering on food sensor detection, intelligent response blocking, and food quality regulation, the review deeply explores and analyzes the systematic connection between the mechanism of coordination chemistry and its practical applications. Finally, the current challenges and future development prospects of the application of coordination chemistry in food quality control were summarized and prospected. This review aims to systematically analyse and summarize the application value of coordination chemistry in food quality control, and provide theoretical guidance for further research on coordination chemistry in entire food quality system.

The effect of exogenous calcium chloride (CaCl2) treatment on water-soaking disorder inhibition and quality maintenance in fresh-cut cantaloupe was studied. Results indicated that CaCl2 preserved visual appearance, microbiological safety, and nutrient composition. Transcriptome analysis identified 5416 differentially expressed genes and most were enriched in sugar-related metabolisms. Moreover, less reducing sugar accumulation including glucose and fructose and lower activities of acidic invertase (AI) and neutral invertase (NI), as well as expressions of CmAI1 and CmNI, were resulted from CaCl2 treatment. Additionally, CaCl2 treatment retained more organic acid and inhibited anaerobic respiration through downregulating corresponding expressions and enzyme activities of pyruvate decarboxylase, alcohol dehydrogenase, and lactate dehydrogenase, as well as reducing the accumulation of anaerobic metabolites including ethanol, acetaldehyde, and pyruvate. Therefore, these findings implied that CaCl2 application was practical for storage performance improvement and water-soaking disorder inhibition via modulating sugar, organic acid, and anaerobic respiration metabolism of fresh-cut cantaloupe, thus serving as a theoretical basis for fresh-cut product processing and preservation.

Chilling injury (CI) severely limits the postharvest storage quality of loquat fruit during cold storage. Phytosulfokine alpha (PSK alpha) has been shown to effectively enhance cold tolerance of loquat fruit. Nevertheless, it remains unclear whether PSK alpha alleviates CI via regulating reactive oxygen species (ROS) homeostasis, and the underlying molecular mechanism remains unknown. In this study, PSK alpha treatment significantly suppressed ROS accumulation through increasing the activities and upregulating the gene expression of key ROS scavenging-related enzymes, including superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), glutathione reductase (GR), dehydroascorbate reductase (DHAR), and monodehydroascorbate reductase (MDHAR). Bioinformatic analysis revealed that the promoters of these antioxidant-related genes contained (T/A)GATA(A/G) motifs specifically recognized by GATA transcription factors. Among 36 EjGATA genes identified in loquat, EjGATA25 was screened out as differentially expressed, being significantly upregulated by PSK alpha and showing the strongest correlation with CI symptoms and ROS homeostasis in loquat fruit. Further investigation demonstrated that EjGATA25 could directly bind to (T/A)GATA(A/G) motifs in the promoters of EjCAT1-like, EjAPX, and EjGR, thereby activating their transcription. Collectively, our findings revealed that PSK alpha treatment could maintain ROS homeostasis by potentiating EjGATA25-mediated transcriptional activation of ROS scavenging-related genes, thereby improving cold tolerance in loquat fruit.

This study attempted to characterize the involvement of a change in the redox status and subcellular localization in the BABA-induced priming resistance of peach fruit against Rhizopus rot. Specifically, 50 mM BABA primed the peaches for the enhanced disease resistance against R. stolonifer, as demonstrated by suppression of the disease development upon pathogen challenge accompanied by the clearly elevated level of TGA transcription factor (PpTGA1) and NPR1 gene (PpNPR1). In addition, the BABA elicitation enhanced the activities of a series of critical enzymes in the PPP and AsA-GSH cycle, and eventually promoted the NADPH and GSH pools, which altered the intracellular redox state towards a highly reductive condition. Additionally, PpTGA1-GFP was localized in the cytoplasm in the absence of BABA treatment or R. stolonifer inoculation, while BABA elicitation plus R. stolonifer inoculation caused PpTGA1-GFP to specifically translocate to the nucleus, where it interacted with PpNPR1 and regulated the positive expression of PR genes. Therefore, the observations implied that BABA could promote the reduction of the redox state, resulting in the translocation of PpTGA1 to the nucleus, which was a prerequisite for the induction of a priming defence against Rhizopus rot in peach.

Zinc finger proteins (ZFPs) play a crucial role in regulating hormone response in plants. ZFPs precisely regulate hormone-responsive genes through specific DNA binding or protein–protein interactions, mediating signal transduction pathways of key hormones such as ethylene (ET), salicylic acid (SA), jasmonic acid (JA), and abscisic acid (ABA), thereby synergistically regulating the postharvest ripening, senescence, and defense response in fruits and vegetables. Herein, this review synthesizes latest advances in ZFP mediated postharvest physiological regulation. We focused on the mechanisms by which ZFPs coordinate maturation and quality maintance at the molecular (transcriptional activation/repression), cellular (cell wall remodeling, starch metabolism), and hormonal (ET biosynthesis and perception, crosstalk with ABA, JA) levels. This review systematically summarizes and elucidates the molecular mechanisms of ZFPs involved in the regulation of postharvest hormone signals,providing theoretical guidance for a new generation of postharvest preservation strategies for fruits and vegetables based on precise transcriptional regulation.

Synchronously achieving rapid hemostasis and sustained healing remains a central challenge in clinical hemostatic materials. Herein, a multifunctional nanocellulose-based hemostatic sponge (DMTC) was fabricated by using aldehyde-functionalized nanocellulose grafted with madecassoside as the matrix, incorporating MXene immobilized copper nanoparticles. The synergistic interaction between them endowed the sponge with exceptional sustained-release capability, achieving cumulative release rates of 88.8% (MA) and 5.4% (CuNPs) over 7 days, respectively. Furthermore, the inorganic-organic interfacial bonding between nanocellulose and MXene constructed a longitudinally interlaced network structure and the multi-level pore size distribution within the sponge, further enhancing its rapid hemostatic performance (2 s in vitro) and controlled release of bioactive factors. Notably, the DMTC sponge exhibited outstanding antibacterial activity, significantly inhibiting the growth of S. aureus (99.99%) and E. coli (99.99%). Additionally, the DMTC sponge achieved a wound closure rate of 95.96% within 14 days in a mouse model and excellent biosafety and biodegradability, which was significantly superior to the commercially available polyvinyl alcohol sponge. This study has expanded the application of two-dimensional materials, nano-active factors and nanocellulose in hemostatic sponges, which have broad application prospects in clinical hemostasis.

Mechanical damage and microbial contamination are major challenges in the postharvest logistics of perishable fruit. In this study, two types of functionally modified chitosan-based aerogel pads were developed to enhance cushioning and preservation of wax apples. A chitosan/polyvinyl alcohol (CP) aerogel was first optimized by adjusting solid content, CS:PVA ratio, and crosslinker concentration. The optimal formulation (2% solids, 1:1 CS: PVA, 3% glutaraldehyde) exhibited a uniform porous structure and improved compressive strength. A chitosan/montmorillonite (CM) aerogel with 5% montmorillonite (MMT) showed high porosity, low density, and excellent cyclic stability. Incorporating 10% copper nanoparticle-loaded antibacterial fibers (CuNPs-TNF) into CM aerogels yielded CM-Cu aerogels with enhanced cushioning and antimicrobial properties. Under simulated transport and cold storage conditions, all aerogel-packaged groups reduced mechanical damage and decay of wax apples. Compared to the control, the CM-Cu group showed 66% lower decay, 5% less weight loss, 6 N greater firmness, 7% less juice yield, and a 13% reduction in relative electrical conductivity. Additionally, it better preserved fruit color and total soluble solids, extending shelf life by 4 d at 20 °C. These results demonstrate the potential of chitosan-based aerogels as multifunctional packaging materials that combine mechanical protection with antimicrobial activity for perishable fruit preservation.