Abstract: Water activity is a key indicator affecting the shelf life of fresh noodles. As a moisture regulator, sorbitol is commonly used to reduce the water activity of products. The aim of this study was to extend the shelf life and to improve the quality of noodles. In this paper, water activity, water distribution, color, qualities of cooking, textural characteristics and total number of bacterial colonies were used as indicators, effects of heat treatment and sorbitol at different mass fractions on the quality and shelf life of fresh noodles were investigated. The results showed that heat treatment and sorbitol could cooperatively lower the water activity and increase the content of bound water in fresh noodles. The total chromatism of dough sheet decreased after heat treatment, and was also in descending trend as the mass fraction of sorbitol increased at the same heat treatment temperature. At 98 ℃, as mass fraction of sorbitol increased, the cooking loss rate of the fresh noodles firstly increased, and then decreased. At the same treatment temperature, when the concentration of sorbitol increased, the hardness and chewiness of cooked noodles were significantly reduced, and the peak viscosity and retrogradation values also showed a decreasing trend. In addition, the heat treatment and sorbitol synergistically prolong the shelf life of the fresh noodles. The shelf life of fresh noodles was extended to 120 hours with a sorbitol mass fraction of 2% at the heat treatment temperature of 98 ℃.