Hydrogels are endowed with exceptional hydrophilicity and biocompatibility by their network structure, while also exhibiting soft physical properties similar to living tissues, which renders them ideal biomaterials. Responsive hydrogels—particularly those constructed from multicomponent systems including proteins, polysaccharides, peptides, and polyphenols—have emerged as a frontier research focus owing to their tunable responsiveness and controllable functional properties. In this review, hydrogel response mechanisms were categorized according to pH, ionic strength, temperature, light, enzymes, and multi-stimuli interactions. Key preparation strategies, encompassing chemical, physical, and enzymatic crosslinking, were systematically introduced. The preparation of hydrogels from various food-grade matrices, such as polysaccharide-based, protein-based, peptide-based, and polyphenol-based systems, was also summarized, with emphasis placed on how their tailored structures govern functional performance. Furthermore, innovative applications of responsive hydrogels were highlighted, including targeted delivery of nutrients and bioactive substances (e.g., probiotics, anthocyanins, vitamins) in functional foods, smart packaging and sensing for real-time freshness monitoring of meat and fruits, food quality detection through colorimetric and photothermal sensors, and 4D food printing for personalized nutrition and dysphagia-friendly foods.

Pork patties were prepared by replacing lean pork with Agaricus bisporus (AB) at 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% levels to develop meat products with modified nutritional profiles. The nutritional, physicochemical, and sensory properties of the patties were investigated. The results indicated that as the replacement proportion of AB increased, the patties exhibited higher moisture (from 62.81% to 77.85%), dietary fiber (from 0% to 1.76%), and ash (from 3.27% to 3.73%) content. Concurrently, the fat content decreased from 4.49% to 2.17%, protein fell from 23.79% to 6.70%, and the energy value reduced from 135.57 to 49.67 kcal/100 g). The texture of patties was softened with higher replacement proportion of AB. Sensory evaluation revealed that patties with 25% and 50% replacement proportion of AB received overall acceptability scores of 8.10 and 7.65, respectively, which were not significantly different (p > 0.05) from the control (8.25). The results of this work suggest that AB has potential as a substitute for lean pork to modify nutritional profiles, with up to 50% substitution yielding a product with desirable sensory properties reduced fat and increased dietary fiber.

To address the issues of low efficiency, high labor intensity, and susceptibility to damage during the manual harvesting of Volvariella volvacea, a mechanized harvesting device was developed to accommodate the growth characteristics of Volvariella volvacea. Thin-film sensors were used to measure the harvesting force values under both the bending method and the rotating method, incorporating two-finger and three-finger operation modes. The results indicated that the maximum force for the bending method was 4.60 N, while that for the twisting method was 2.91 N (peak values, n = 20 per method). The twisting method required less effort and posed a lower risk of damage. A four-suction-cup flexible end-effector was designed using silicone rubber material and equipped with a rotary cylinder. ANSYS 2022 R1 finite element simulation verified that under an applied force of 8 N, the surface stress on the Volvariella volvacea was less than 1.1489 MPa, meeting low-damage requirements. A Volvariella volvacea harvesting test rig was constructed, and performance tests were conducted. The results showed that the overall harvesting success rate was 96.65%, the damage rate was 2.03%, and the average time per harvest by the end-effector was 5.9 s. This study provides a theoretical foundation and technical support for the mechanized and intelligent harvesting of Volvariella volvacea, and is significant for promoting the high-quality development of the Volvariella volvacea industry.