Innovative postbiotic-chia seed mucilage packaging to extend ostrich meat quality and shelf life: development and Support Vector Regression (SVR) modeling of quality parameters

Abstract Lactococcus lactis is a safe lactic acid bacterium widely used in the food industry. This study aimed to develop an active edible coating by combining chia seed mucilage with different concentrations (0%, 1%, and 2%) of cell-free supernatant (CFS) from L. lactis PAN1 to improve the microbial and physicochemical stability of ostrich meat stored at 4 ± 1 °C for 10 days. The results showed that coatings containing 2% CFS significantly reduced total viable counts, psychrotrophic bacteria, coliforms, and fungi compared to uncoated samples. In addition, CFS-enriched coatings limited lipid oxidation, preserved color attributes, and improved sensory acceptability during storage. To translate these experimental findings into a predictive tool, a Support Vector Regression (SVR) model was developed to estimate key quality parameters as functions of treatment type and storage time, achieving Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) values ranging from 1.10% to 9.90%. Coliforms exhibited the highest prediction accuracy (MAPE = 1.10%), whereas total color difference ( ΔE ) showed the lowest accuracy. Overall, the combination of chia seed mucilage and postbiotic CFS represents a promising clean-label strategy for extending the shelf life of ostrich meat, while the SVR model provides a practical framework for rapid quality prediction in meat preservation systems. Graphical Abstract