Nutritional and antioxidative characterization, antimicrobial and sensory stability of ultrasound-assisted <i>Agaricus bisporus</i> (J. E. Lange) lmbach dried powder-based biscuits

Abstract The study investigated the impact of adding ultrasound-assisted Agaricus bisporus (J. E. Lange) lmbach dried powder (5-15 %) to biscuits and evaluated their antioxidant activity, antimicrobial behaviour, nutritional value, physicochemical traits, and sensory quality during 60 days of storage. The nutritional composition of Agaricus bisporus dried powder supplemented biscuits ABB5-ABB15 (i.e., 5-15% supplementation level), elucidated significant increase (p&amp;lt;0.05) in crude protein, ash and fibre from 7.3-9, 0.9-1.4 and 1-2.1, respectively. The textural attributes showed increase in oil and water holding capacity, and reduction in hardness for ABB5-ABB15 i.e., 2-4.3, 2.5-4.8 g/g, and 7.6-6.4, respectively. Moreover, DPPH, total phenolic content, total flavonoids content and ferric reducing antioxidant power assay results showed significant increase (p&amp;lt;0.05) for ABB5-ABB15 i.e., 32-45%, 2.8-5.8 mg GAE/g, 0.9-1.4 mg QE/g, and 1-1.6 μmol TE/g, at storage days of 0-60, respectively. The L*, b*, h0, and C* values reported significant decline i.e., 59.5-45.2, 27.5-21.3, 76.1-71, and 28.3-22.5, for B0-ABB15 (i.e., 0-15% supplementation level), at 0-60 days. The total plate counts, mould and yeast counts demonstrated significant reduction (p&amp;lt;0.05) for ABB5-ABB15 from 3.3-2.7, 1.7-1.3 Log10 CFU/g, as compared to control i.e., 3.7, and 2.5 Log10 CFU/g over 60th days of storage, respectively. The sensory panel rated sample ABB15 with best organoleptic properties for taste, colour, texture, aroma, and overall acceptability. Principal component analysis indicated positive correlations among antioxidant attributes and negative associations with microbial load. Overall, incorporating 15% ultrasound-assisted Agaricus bisporus powder yielded the greatest nutritional, functional, and sensory benefits in biscuits, supporting its broader application in food formulations.