The work aims to study green, environmentally friendly and safe preservation method of fresh-cut fruits and vegetables to delay browning of fresh-cut purple yam. With β-cyclodextrinas the wall material, the oregano essential oil as the core material and the sucrose fatty acid ester as the emulsifier, the β-cyclodextrin-oregano essential oil microcapsules were prepared by molecular inclusion method. With the browning degree as the evaluation index, the concentrations of citric acid and sodium alginate with the best anti-browning effect were determined by experiments. Edible coating containing microcapsules was prepared by blending microcapsules, citric acid and sodium alginate, and the anti-browning effect of edible coating of β-cyclodextrin-oregano essential oil microcapsules on fresh-cut purple yam was studied. The results showed that, the surface of β-cyclodextrin-oregano essential oil microcapsules was wrinkled and stacked, and the microcapsules were full and uniform in size, with the particle size of about 40~50 μm.The mass fractions of citric acid and sodium alginate with the best anti-browning effect were 0.8% and 1.5%, respectively. Scanning electron microscope observation showed that, the edible coating had been successfully attached to the surface of fresh-cut purple yam, and the edible coating was relatively smooth. It can be concluded that, the coating of β-cyclodextrin-oregano essential oil microcapsules can significantly slow down the browning process of fresh-cut purple yam during the 24 h storage period.