Abstract: Dense phase carbon dioxide(DPCD)is a promising non-thermal processing technology that affects microorganisms and enzymes through molecular effects of CO₂ under pressures below 50 MPa and temperature below 60 ℃.DPCD could affect food physical,nutritional,sensory qualities.In these experiments,compared with fresh shrimp(Litopenaeus vannamei),the effects of dense phase carbon dioxide(DPCD)and heat treatment on the nutrient components,mass loss,pH value,water-holding capacity,texture,protein and flavor components of shrimp meat were investigated.The results were as follows:compared with fresh shrimp,the water and crude fat content of shrimp meat treated by DPCD decreased significantly(P<0.05)and the crude protein content of that had no significant change(P>0.05),while the crude protein and fat content of shrimp meat treated by heat decreased significantly(P<0.05);the mass loss of shrimp meat treated by DPCD was 16.02%±1.90%,but DPCD had no significant effect on pH value of shrimp meat(P>0.05);DPCD and heat treatment could induce shrimp protein denaturation,which caused water holding capacity of shrimp meat decreased significantly(P<0.05),from(84.79±5.25) g/100 g to (65.18±2.06) g/100 g and (65.58±2.08) g/100 g respectively;DPCD treatment has no significant effect on hardness of shrimp meat(P>0.05),while heat treatment caused hardness of shrimp meat to increased significantly(P<0.05),from (3.48±0.49) N to (7.37±0.76) N;DPCD and heat treatment caused springiness of shrimp meat to decrease significantly(P<0.05),from 0.88±0.08 to 0.71±0.03 and 0.78±0.03 respectively;except for betaine,PO^3-₄ and Cl^-,the contents of other taste-active components(free amino acids,ATP related compounds,organic acid,and glycogen etc.)had no significant difference(P>0.05)between DPCD treated and fresh shrimp,but heat treatment led to significant loss of shrimp meat taste-active components(P<0.05).These results indicated that negative effects of DPCD treatment on shrimp meat qualities were less than those of heat treatment.