To address the critical need for crayfish preservation, a novel chitosan-based composite coating incorporating tea polyphenols and ε-polylysine (CS-TP-PL) was developed for superchilled crayfish storage. Compared to the limited quality preservation efficacy of chitosan-only treatment, CS-TP-PL treatment achieved significant reductions in pH, total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N), total viable count (TVC), trichloroacetic acid (TCA)-soluble peptides ( P
