Abstract: To investigate whether curcumin as a polyphenol can delay the quality deterioration of ready-to-eat sea cucumber during cold storage, and the impact of adding curcumin on the ready-to-eat sea cucumber, sea cucumber was used as raw material, the weight loss rate and volume loss rate of sea cucumber during the hot processing process were determined, and the moisture content, texture characteristics, microstructure, free hydroxyproline content, free ammonia nitrogen content, soluble protein content and SDS-PAGE of ready-to-eat sea cucumber during the cold storage were measured. The secondary structure of ready-to-eat sea cucumber protein was observed by infrared spectroscopy. At the same time, the volatile substances and sensory flavor were analyzed to explore the effects of adding curcumin on the quality and flavor of ready-to-eat sea cucumber. The results showed that the addition of curcumin during thermal processing had no significant effect on the weight loss rate and volume loss rate of ready-to-eat sea cucumber. After cross-linking with curcumin, the hardness of ready-to-eat sea cucumber increased by 53.92%, the chewiness increased by 64.03%, and the moisture content decreased by 5.14%. The 35 kDa band disappeared from the protein relative molecular mass, increasing to 100, 48 kDa bands., the vibration band of secondary structure amide I band and amide II band shifted from 1654.1 cm⁻¹ and 1549.5 cm⁻¹ to 1657.6 cm⁻¹ and 1549 cm⁻¹, increase of β-folding, decrease of random coil, decrease of α-helix, of β-turn. During cold storage, the protein degradation indexes such as free hydroxyproline content, free ammonia nitrogen content and soluble protein content of ready-to-eat sea cucumber showed a significant upward trend, but after curcumin cross-linking treatment, the protein degradation rate of ready-to-eat sea cucumber was significantly slowed down. When cold storage for 40 days, the ready-to-eat sea cucumber treated with curcumin has a relative increase in volatile substances such as caramel, fruity, and smoky flavors, and the relative content of volatile substances with antibacterial and antioxidant properties increases. In conclusion, curcumin can interact with the body wall protein of sea cucumbers, thereby delaying the degradation of the body wall during refrigeration and improving its flavor.