Abstract: Abstract: Water bamboo shoots (Zizania caduciflora L.), a kind of health-caring vegetable, is becoming more and more popular due to its special flavor and taste in China in recent years. However, water bamboo shoots are very perishable for senescence and deterioration with quality, which results in a short shelf life after being harvested. Hypobaric storage has been shown to inhibit postharvest ripening and senescence and extend shelf life of fruits and vegetables. However, there are no published data on the effects of hypobaric storage on the quality of water bamboo shoots during storage.To study the efficacy of hypobaric storage as a new technique in maintaining the quality of water bamboo shoots (WBS), ambient atmospheric pressure with cold storage was used as a control. The effects of low-pressure storage on quality and cell-wall metabolism of 'Longjiao 2' WBS were investigated. The hypobaric storage maintained the green color of the water bamboo shoot shell, decreased water loss and released fibrosis. The effects of 70-80 kPa treatment were better than 40-50 kPa. After 60 days storage, water-soluble sugar (1.2%, 1.5%), Vc content (2.8, 3.94 mg/100g) and firmness (2.67, 3.47 kg) were kept at a high level in the 40-50 and 70-80 kPa group. There was a significant difference between the control group and the 70-80 kPa group. POD activity in the control treatment and the 40-50 kPa group was 1.90 and 1.54 times than that in the 70-80kPa group. PAL activity was 1.49 and 1.23 times than that in 70-80kPa group .There was also significant difference between the control treatment and the 70-80 kPa group. Mass fraction of water-soluble pectin in the 70-80 kPa group was 1.65 and 1.15 times than that in control and the 40-50 kPa groups. The difference between them was also significant. The mass fraction of lignin was 0.47% in the 70-80 kPa group, which has a significant difference from that in the control group, 1.6 times of its mass fraction. These results indicated that hypobaric storage could delay the degradation of total soluble sugar and Vc, suppress the increasing rate of POD, PAL and CAD activities, inhibit the decrease of water soluble pectin content and the rise of lignin content in postharvest WBS significantly, and delay the process of lignification. Compared with storage under ambient atmospheric pressure or 40-50 kPa, the storage of WBS under 70-80 kPa maintained better appearance quality, higher levels of total soluble sugar and Vc as well as lower enzyme activities of POD, PAL and CAD. After 2 months of storage, hypobaric storage under 70-80 kPa also maintained the characteristic qualities and commercial value of WBS with low degree of lignification.