Abstract: Objective: The effect of clove oil-chitosan composite film coating on total bacterial count and qualities of fresh-cut melon was evaluated. Method: The effects of clove oil-chitosan composite film coating on weight loss, hardness, relative electrical conductivity, color, pH, soluble solid content, V_C content and total bacterial count of the fresh-cut melon were compared at 4 ℃ for 5 d with the uncoating group as the control, and the ε-polylysine coating group as the positive control. Results: Both ε-polylysine and clove oil-chitosan composite film coating groups could effectively maintaine qualities of the fresh-cut melon. The shelf life of the composite film groups was 2.1 and 1.5 d longer than that of the control and ε-polylysine coating group, respectively, when the threshold of the shelf life was 5.0 lg (CFU/g) of the total number of colonies. Compared to the ε-polylysine coating group, the clove oil-chitosan composite film coating group reduced the total number of colonies of the fresh-cut melon by an order of magnitude, reduced the degree of cell damage, maintained the original orange color, reduced the weight loss rate by 18.18%, and increased the hardness of products by 19.65% and soluble solids content by 8.18%. Conclusion: The clove oil-chitosan composite film coating reduced the total number of colonies and delayed the quality deterioration of fresh-cut melon.