Low-temperature plasma has been studied in antimicrobial， pesticidal， food functionalization and waste treatment. Water activated by low temperature plasma， called Plasma Activated Water （PAW） for short， can be directly produced by air as the working gas and distilled water as the solution， which is rich in a variety of bioactive substance and environmentally friendly， has a broad application prospect in food industry. This review summarizes the generator of PAW， physicochemical properties， sterilization mechanism and effect and application in food preservation， aiming to provide reference for its wide application.