Abstract: More attentions have been paid to astaxanthin, due to its potential physiological functions, including antioxidant, immunity enhancing, antitumour, antiinflammation, as well as photoprotection. However, the applications of astaxanthin are considerably limited by its poor stability, poor water solubility and bioavailability. Therefore, it is important to develop appropriate preparation technologies to broaden the application of astaxanthin. The physiological functions and recent development of preparation technologies of astaxanthin were reviewed in this paper.