Vacuum precooling delays softening in fresh goji berries (Lycium barbarum L.): Associations between mechanical properties and antioxidant responses

This study evaluated mechanical properties and antioxidant responses in fresh goji berries ( Lycium barbarum L.) during cold storage following vacuum precooling at final pressures of 600–1200 Pa. Among the observed treatment profiles, the 800–1000 Pa group showed a comparatively favorable combination of selected mechanical and biochemical quality indices during storage. At the final sampling point, this group showed numerically higher hardness and springiness, lower weight loss, and lower malondialdehyde (MDA) and hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) contents than CK, together with differing superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), and catalase (CAT) activities. Exploratory computational pressure-sensitivity simulations yielded enzyme-specific structural descriptors at the selected reference pressures. Because only one trajectory was available per enzyme–pressure condition, the observed differences could not be attributed uniquely to reference pressure rather than initialization and finite-sampling variability. Because active-site accessibility and substrate-channel geometry were not directly analyzed, these conformational responses are interpreted as associations rather than evidence of a defined catalytic pathway. An exploratory proof-of-concept regression analysis examined associations between 14 candidate mechanical variables and six biochemical endpoints using six storage-time means. CBF-Ridge yielded a descriptive mean endpoint-specific R 2 of 0.7464 under internal LOOCV. This internal summary does not establish predictive accuracy, biological reproducibility, or generalization to independent fruit batches. The analysis identifies candidate associations for independent validation. These findings provide an exploratory framework for relating mechanical properties to antioxidant profiles in fresh goji berries. The antioxidant comparisons are descriptive and require confirmation using independently treated fruit batches.