Abstract: The effects of heat shock treatments on controlling the browning of fresh-cut burdock and its mechanism were discussed.The results showed that：All the three heat shock conditions obviously delayed the browning of fresh-cut burdock during storage time. At 1 ℃，untreated control slices obviously browned on day 3，but those treated with heat shock treatments still had good color till day 12，moreover，their extent of dehydration was much lower and overall sensory quality was much better than control. Inhibition in rise of the activity of phenylalanine aminolyase（PAL），the content of total phenols and the respiration rate by heat shock treatment is the main reason for delaying browning.

Key words: burdock, fresh-cut, browning, heat shock