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BACKGROUND Monascus pigments (Mps) are easily impacted by heating, pH and light, resulting in the degradation. In this study, Mps were encapsulated by ionic gelation method with sodium alginate (SA) and sodium caseinate (SC) as well as CaCl2 as a crosslinker. The encapsulated Mps SA/SC in four proportions (SA/SC: 1/4, 2/3, 3/2, 4/1, w/w). Then, the encapsulation efficiency and particle size of the SA/SC-Mps system were evaluated to obtain the optimal embedding condition. Finally, the effects of heating, pH, light and storage on the stability of non-capsulated Mps and encapsulated Mps were assessed. RESULTS SA/SC = 2/3 (AC2) had higher encapsulation efficiency (74.30%) of Mps and relatively small particle size (2.02 mm). The AC2 gel beads were chosen for further investigating the stability of encapsulated Mps to heating, pH, light and storage. The heat stability experiments showed that the degradation of Mps followed the first-order kinetic, and the encapsulated Mps had lower degradation rates than non-capsulated Mps. The encapsulation could reduce the effect of pH on Mps. The ultraviolet light on the stability of Mps were considered, showing that the retention efficiency of encapsulated Mps were 22.01% higher than those of non-capsulated Mps in the seventh day. Finally, storage stability was also evaluated in dark refrigerating condition for 30 days, and the results indicated the encapsulated Mps could reduce the degradation of Mps. CONCLUSION This study has proved that AC2 gel beads can improve the stability of Mps. Thus, ionic gelation method is a promising encapsulation method to improve the stability of Mps. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.