The scaled mackerel fillets were stored under 30 ℃,20 ℃,10 ℃ and 4 ℃,respectively. Total volatile basic nitrogen( TVBN),trimethylamine nitrogen( TMAN),peroxide value( PV),thiobarbituric acid( TBARS) and pH were monitored and also tested for their suitability to determine freshness quality of this muscle. The shelf life under different temperature was 11h,15h,25h and 96h. TMAN and TBARS were closely related to TVBN,the correlation coefficients were 0. 928 and 0. 846 respectively. TMAN of 12. 8mg /( 100g muscle) and TBARS of 12. 5mg MDA /( kg muscle) were the maximum value of the market acceptance. PV and pH value also showed some variations,but they were not suitable for freshness assessment.