**4. Conclusions**

Our study has shown that enoki mushroom (*F. velutipes*) stem waste is a good source of bioactive ingredients, such as dietary fibers and phenolics. The extract of MSW powder exhibited good antioxidant potential, which was attributed to its strong free radical scavenging activity, ferric reducing power, and metal chelating ability. The incorporation of this extract into a model meat product (goat meat nuggets) increased its dietary fiber and ash content, which may have nutritional benefits. Moreover, the mushroom extract improved the cooking yield and did not adversely a ffect the appearance or texture of the final product. Finally, the mushroom extract significantly improved the shelf-life of the meat products, which was mainly attributed to its ability to inhibit lipid oxidation during storage. Therefore, enoki mushroom stem waste may be a value-added functional ingredient that can be used at 4% level to improve the nutritional profile, physicochemical properties, and shelf-life of meat products.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, A.K.D., and D.K.B.; Investigation, analysis and interpretation of the data, writing—original draft preparation, D.K.B., R.B., and Y.P.G.; writing—review and editing, P.K.N., A.K.D., S.B., M.P., D.J.M., and J.M.L. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research work received no external funding.

**Acknowledgments:** The authors are thankful to the Director, ICAR-Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), Bareilly, India and the Station In-charge, ICAR-IVRI, Kolkata for providing necessary facilities to carry out this work.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.
