Abstract: Edible antimicrobial packaging films based on chitosan and essential oils have many advantages such as wide source of raw materials, edible, biodegradable and high antimicrobial activity, thus possess an important role in food preservation area. This paper reviewed the structure and properties of chitosan and essential oils, showed the research progress of edible films made of chitosan and essential oils, and other compound edible antibacterial membrane with the adding of protein, starch and some other natural polymers. The present problems and the potential research direction were also pointed out. This paper aimed to provide useful references and ideas for the development of edible antimicrobial films based on chitosan/essential oil.