Abstract: Meat is easy to be oxidized and putrescent during transportation,storage and sales due to its rich nutrients and high-water activity. Therefore,meat preservation has become a major challenge in the food industry. Plant essential oil,a natural food preservative,has the potential to be used in the field of meat preservation based on good antibacterial and antioxidant effects. However,its application in the field of meat preservation is limited because of its poor water solubility and stability. This paper summarized the antibacterial and antioxidant capacity of plant essential oil with problems in application of meat preservatives,the method of nano-embedding of plant essential oil and its functional mechanisms on foodborne microorganisms. The paper prospected the development and application of nano-embedding technology of plant essential oil,in order to provide a reference for exploring new meat preservatives.