Preparation, characterization, and thermal stability of β-cyclodextrin/soybean lecithin inclusion complex

β-Cyclodextrin (β-CD), which is widely used to increase the stability, solubility, and bioavailability of guests, can form host–guest inclusion complexes with a wide variety of organic molecules. In this study the β-CD/soybean lecithin inclusion complex was prepared. The effect of reaction parameters such as reaction temperature, reaction time and the molar ratio of β-CD/soybean lecithin on inclusion ratio were studied. The inclusion ratio of the product prepared under the optimal conditions of β-CD/soybean lecithin molar ratio 2:1, reaction temperature 60 °C reaction time 2 h was 40.2%. The results of UV–vis, DSC, XRD and FT-IR spectrum indicated the formation of inclusion complex. The thermal stability experiment indicated that the thermal stability of soybean lecithin in inclusion complex was significantly improved compared with free soybean lecithin.