Abstract: In order to analyze the preservative effect of compound natural preservative on Macrobrachium nipponense refrigerated at 4 ℃, the Macrobrachium nipponens was treated with compound natural preservative（including chitosan 12.5 g/L, carrageenin 1.75 g/L, rosemary extract 0.9 g/L, nisin 0.7 g/L）, with muscle pH, TVB-N,TBARS values and total bacterial count, combined with SDS-PAGE results of Macrobrachium nipponens muscle protein as the investigated index. The results showed that the compound natural preservative could delay the increase of p H, TVB-N, TBARS values and total bacterial count of Macrobrachium nipponens during refrigeration period compared with the control group. The SDS-PAGE patterns indicated that the compound natural preservative was beneficial to maintain the stability of structure and properties of muscle protein of Macrobrachium nipponens,which suggested that the compound natural preservative could effectively inhibit the protein degradation, oxidative rancidity of fat, and growth of microorganisms, thus delaying the decay of Macrobrachium nipponens and prolonging its shelf life to 7 days, and had good preservation effect.