Abstract: The aging mechanism of postharvest green asparagus was discussed by analysing texture,cell-wall chemical composition,relative enzymes activity and cell structure of green asparagus under three-stage hypobaric storage condition using the atmosphere cold storage as control. Results showed that the aging process of green asparagus is mainly expressed as the rise of shear and piercing intensity,the increase of cellulose content and lignin content,the growth of vascular bundle and the formation of big trachea which is the essence of aging. The three-stage hypobaric storage could inhibit the growth of vascular bundle,prevent the formation of big trachea and the thickening of trachea wall. Therefore it could obviously delay the aging of green asparagus.

Key words: green asparagus, atmosphere cold storage, three-stage hypobaric storage, aging, vascular bundle, trachea