Oxidized hyaluronic acid-based biodegradable hydrogels loaded with potassium cinnamate: A sustainable coating for...

Fruit preservation materials are crucial for inhibiting post-harvest spoilage and extending fruit shelf life. However, a notable limitation of existing preservation materials is their frequent failure to simultaneously exhibit robust antibacterial activity, excellent biocompatibility, and effective shelf-life extension. Based on this, the present study intends to develop a potassium cinnamate-loaded hydrogel (PC@OHA-cl-SD^gel) for addressing the aforementioned challenges in post-harvest grape preservation. Primarily, potassium cinnamate (PC) was used as an antibacterial agent to prepare PC@OHA-cl-SD^gel. The low cytotoxicity, high biocompatibility, and potent antibacterial activity endow PC@OHA-cl-SD^gel with an application in post-harvest grape preservation. Storage experiments demonstrated that coating grapes with PC@OHA-cl-SD^gel inhibited pH fluctuations, weight loss, and spoilage over a 10-day storage. PC@OHA-cl-SD^gel effectively maintained the quality of post-harvest grapes and extended their shelf-life. Therefore, PC@OHA-cl-SD^gel holds great promise as a novel preservation material for post-harvest grapes, with potential extensibility to other perishable fruits that face similar post-harvest quality deterioration issues.