Mannan is a colorless, non-toxic, and odorless polysaccharide widely found in nature, making it an economical and highly effective natural food preservative. Spraying, dipping, or coating fresh food with a 0.05%–1% mannan aqueous solution, or adding it to certain processed foods, can significantly extend their shelf life. It can be used for the storage and preservation of various foods, including fruits, vegetables, soy products, eggs, and beans. For example, untreated fresh strawberries lose their luster after two days and begin to mold after three days. However, after dipping fresh strawberries in a 0.05% mannan aqueous solution for 10 seconds, followed by air drying, they only slightly lose their luster after one week of storage, and no mold growth was observed after three weeks.
