AHP-based multidimensional quality evaluation and optimization of postharvest processing and storage for Cornus officinalis: microbial-metabolite interactions and stability mechanisms

Cornus officinalis Sieb. et Zucc. (CF), a dual-purpose medicinal and edible herb in Traditional Chinese Medicine, requires stringent quality control to ensure therapeutic efficacy and safety. This study developed a comprehensive multi-criteria evaluation system integrating Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) with 4 main criteria (appearance characteristics, quality parameters, characteristic components, and pharmacological activities), which are further subdivided into 18 measurable indicators. Through single-factor experiments and Response Surface Methodology (RSM), optimal processing parameters were established, achieving a comprehensive quality score of 54.143 (on a normalized 0–100 scale with only 0.70% validation error. To further elucidate the biological mechanisms of quality deterioration during storage, ITS sequencing analysis elucidated microbial community succession under varying storage conditions (4–36 °C, 35–75% RH), demonstrating that low-temperature/low-humidity storage (4 °C, 35% RH) significantly suppressed fungal proliferation while maintaining >95% retention of morroniside and loganin, whereas only ≈78% retention of morroniside under high-temperature/high-humidity conditions (36 °C, 75% RH). This work establishes a potential methodological framework and offers practical technical insights toward the standardization of processing, storage, and quality assessment of CF.