Abstract: Spray-drying was employed for microencapsulation of Hovenia dulcis Thunb. seed oil in this study. The results showed that the best material compositions for the microencapsulation are as follows:mass ratio of gelatin to β-cyclodextrin 1:6,wall material to water 15:85 and core material to wall material 1:3.5 as well as complex additive amount 10%. The optimum processing parameters for the microencapsulation are as follows:ultrasonic emulsification time 10 min,homogeneous pressure 30 MPa,outlet temperature 160 ℃ and inlet temperature 80 ℃. Under the optimal conditions,the embedding rate is 88.89%,and microencapsulation efficiency is 90.83%. The microcapsule particles of Hovenia dulcis Thunb. seed oil are spherical,smooth,evenly distributed and orderly arranged,with sizes between 8μ m and 10μ m.

Key words: Hovenia dulcis Thunb. seed oil, microencapsulation, spray-drying, embedding rate