The work aims to prepare an essential oil preservative by mimicking a bagged desiccant to improve the post-harvest shelf life of strawberries. The clove essential oil (CEO) was loaded by magnesium-containing mesoporous silica molecular sieves (Mg-MCM-41) to evaluate its preservation effect on strawberries at room temperature. Clove essential oil was successfully loaded onto Mg-MCM-41 carrier, the mesopore ordering of Mg-MCM-41 was reduced, and the thermal stability of clove essential oil was improved. The optimal formulation of CMA freshness preservative with mMg-MCM-41∶mCEO=1∶2 showed 63.5% and 95.6% antioxidant capacity against DPPH and ABTS radicals, respectively, and CMA at 5 mg showed more than 99% inhibition of Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Aspergillus niger, with release rates consistent with a first-order kinetic model. Compared with the blank group, the preservative had good preservation effect, maintained the soluble solids content, hardness, titratable acid, and ascorbic acid content of the strawberries, inhibited the growth and reproduction of the microorganisms, and improved the sensory qualities of the strawberries. CMA has the best preservation effect, extending the shelf life of strawberries by 2 days at 25 ℃.