Aquaculture is an important way to meet people's demand for protein in the future. Reducing the decline in the quality of post-harvested fish and shellfish is an important topic in the field of aquatic product processing. Striated muscle is the main edible part in the muscle of fish and shellfish, and its energy metabolism state affects muscle quality. This article reviews the energy metabolism of striated muscles, including the production, transport and consumption of ATP. A series of muscle freshness evaluation indexes proposed based on the energy metabolism process of striated muscle were reviewed,including K value, K_max value and AEC value of ATP and its related compounds, as well as the ATPase activity, mitochondrial structure and respiratory activity of myogenic fibronectin and sarcoplasmic reticulum. The applicability of each freshness index in iced fish and live shellfish was further summarized according to the consumption status, and the necessity and urgency of strengthening the control of fish and shellfish in the early of post-harvest stage (quality determination period) were put forward. Among many indicators, mitochondrial activity can be used as an effective indicator for quality control in the quality determination period, facilitate effective carry out quality evaluation in the perishable period, and reduce quality loss and resource consumption caused by improper post-harvested disposal. And provide a theoretical support for promoting that sustainable development of the aquatic product industry.