Abstract:The preservation effect of mugwort-clove essential oils compound on tomato was investigated. Firstly, the optimal concentration and soaking time of the two essential oils were obtained by using single factor test with the concentration of mugwort and clove essential oils and the soaking time as the variables. Then, an orthogonal test was carried out with the weight loss ratio and hardness as the test indexes to obtain the optimal blending ratio, and the weight loss ratio, hardness, soluble solid (TSS) content, ascorbic acid content, peroxidase (POD) activity, malondialdehyde (MDA) content were tested to study the effects of the two essential oil compounding on tomato preservation. The results of single factor and orthogonal tests showed that the best preservation effect was achieved when the mass concentration of mugwort essential oil was 1.00 g/L, the mass concentration of clove essential oil was 0.50 g/L, and the soaking time was 3 min. Applying the tomato in this ratio, after 10 d of storage, the weight loss ratio and hardness of tomato were 0.991% and 21.2 N/cm2 respectively. The weight loss ratio were about 30.26% and 26.88% lower than that of the 1.00 g/L mugwort essential oil group and the 0.50 g/L clove essential oil group in the single factor experiments, and the hardness increased by about 26.42% and 20.75% respectively. The compounding of mugwort essential oil and clove essential oil could improve tomato preservation.