Food safety and quality are paramount global concerns, with the complexities of the modern supply chain demanding advanced technologies for monitoring, preservation, and decontamination. Conventional methods often fall short due to limitations in speed, sensitivity, cost, and functionality. Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), a class of crystalline porous materials, have emerged as a highly universal platform to address these challenges, owing to their unprecedented structural tunability, ultrahigh surface areas, and tailorable chemical functionalities. This comprehensive review details the state-of-the-art applications of multifunctional MOFs across the entire spectrum of food safety and quality enhancement. First, the review details the application of MOFs in advanced food analysis, covering their transformative roles as sorbents in sample preparation (e.g., solid-phase extraction and microextraction), as novel stationary phases in chromatography, and as the core components of highly sensitive sensing platforms, including luminescent, colorimetric, electrochemical, and SERS-based sensors for contaminant detection. Subsequently, the role of MOFs in food preservation and packaging is explored, highlighting their use in active packaging systems for ethylene scavenging and controlled antimicrobial release, in intelligent packaging for visual spoilage indication, and as functional fillers for enhancing the barrier properties of packaging materials. Furthermore, the review examines the direct application of MOFs in food processing for the selective adsorptive removal of contaminants from complex food matrices (such as oils and beverages) and as robust, recyclable heterogeneous catalysts. Finally, a critical discussion is presented on the significant challenges that impede widespread adoption. These include concerns regarding biocompatibility and toxicology, issues of long-term stability in complex food matrices, and the hurdles of achieving cost-effective, scalable synthesis. This review not only summarizes recent progress but also provides a forward-looking perspective on the interdisciplinary efforts required to translate these promising nanomaterials from laboratory research into practical, real-world solutions for a safer and higher-quality global food supply.

Cadmium (Cd) contamination of agricultural soil has become a serious threat to global food security. The present study highlights the effect of added isosteviol in modulating growth physiology and antioxidant defense systems conferring tolerance against cadmium (Cd) stress in wheat. Wheat growth, chlorophyll content, malondialdehyde (MDA) content of leaves, dehydrogenase activity of root, and antioxidant enzyme activity were determined to get an overview of cellular response in conquering Cd-induced oxidative stress damages. The results indicated that wheat germination was inhibited under Cd²⁺ concentration at 10 µM. The presence of isosteviol and gibberellic acid (GA) significantly alleviated the inhibitory effect on the growth of wheat seedling under 10 µM Cd²⁺ stress. Moreover, different concentrations of isosteviol and GA regulated the physiological changes of wheat under Cd stress: more chlorophyll a + b content; less MDA content; and higher dehydrogenase activity of root and antioxidant enzyme activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), and catalase (CAT), as compared to Cd alone in wheat seedling. The present study thus suggests a possible role of isosteviol in amelioration of Cd stress by increasing chlorophyll content and root dehydrogenase activity, which also could reduce oxidative damage of the cell membrane by regulating the activities of antioxidant enzymes in wheat seedling.

In this paper, the effect of isosteviol on the physiological metabolism of Brassica napus seedlings under salt stress is explored. Brassica napus seeds (Qinyou 2) were used as materials, and the seeds were soaked in different concentrations of isosteviol under salt stress. The fresh weight, dry weight, osmotic substance, absorption and distribution of Na⁺, K⁺, Cl⁻, and the content of reactive oxygen species (ROS) were measured, and these results were combined with the changes shown by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The results showed that isosteviol at an appropriate concentration could effectively increase the biomass and soluble protein content of Brassica napus seedlings and reduce the contents of proline, glycine betaine, and ROS in the seedlings. Isosteviol reduces the oxidative damage to Brassica napus seedlings caused by salt stress by regulating the production of osmotic substances and ROS. In addition, after seed soaking in isosteviol, the Na⁺ content in the shoots of the Brassica napus seedlings was always lower than that in the roots, while the opposite was true for the K⁺ content. This indicated that under salt stress the Na⁺ absorbed by the Brassica napus seedlings was mainly accumulated in the roots and that less Na⁺ was transported to the shoots, while more of the K⁺ absorbed by the Brassica napus seedlings was retained in the leaves. It is speculated that this may be an important mechanism for Brassica napus seedlings to relieve Na⁺ toxicity. The spectroscopy analysis showed that, compared with the control group (T1), salt stress increased the absorbance values of carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, nucleic acids, etc., indicating structural damage to the plasma membrane and cell wall. The spectra of the isosteviol seed soaking treatment group were nearly the same as those of the control group (T1). The correlation analysis shows that under salt stress the Brassica napus seedling tissues could absorb large amounts of Na⁺ and Cl⁻ to induce oxidative stress and inhibit the growth of the plants. After the seed soaking treatment, isosteviol could significantly reduce the absorption of Na⁺ by the seedling tissues, increase the K⁺ content, and reduce the salt stress damage to the plant seedlings. Therefore, under salt stress, seed soaking with isosteviol at an appropriate concentration (10⁻⁹~10⁻⁸ M) can increase the salt resistance of Brassica napus seedlings by regulating their physiological and metabolic functions.

Hemerocallis fulva (daylily), native to Asia, is valued for its ornamental, medicinal, and cultural uses. Cadmium (Cd) stress limits growth of daylily. This study evaluated effects of exogenous melatonin (MT) on daylily growth, physiology, soil properties, and rhizosphere bacterial communities under Cd stress. One-year-old seedlings were treated with Cd alone (20 mg·kg-1) or Cd combined with 20, 50, or 100 µM MT. 50 µM MT showed the strongest alleviating effect, increasing plant height by 63.36%, shoot fresh and dry weights by 59.90% and 72.04%, root fresh and dry weights by 72.63% and 68.72%, chlorophyll content by 46.15%, and soluble sugar content by 32.18%. It also increased SOD, CAT, and POD activities by 112.02%, 26.82%, and 69.91%, respectively, and reduced shoot Cd accumulation. Soil enzyme activities improved, with S-AKP, S-SC, S-CAT, and S-US increasing by 7.47%, 39.22%, 48.75%, and 13.86%, respectively. Bacterial richness was enhanced, and 50 µM MT yielded 9172 total ASVs and 7236 unique ASVs. The rhizosphere bacterial community composition changed, reflected in elevated abundances of Chlamydiota, Firmicutes A, Deinococcota and the genus Chryseobacterium. Network analysis indicated a more complex bacterial co-occurrence pattern under 50 µM MT treatment, and FAPROTAX predicted higher abundances of functions related to fermentation, xylan degradation, nitrite respiration, and photoheterotrophy. PLS-PM indicated that shoot Cd content and soil AK were associated with bacterial richness, while bacterial richness, S-SC activity, and shoot Cd content were associated with plant growth.