The study is aimed to enhance the stability of poppy-seed oil by microencapsulation technology using arabic gum and gelatin as wall materials. Poppy-seed oil microcapsules were successfully prepared by complex coacervation followed by spray dying method. The characterization of poppy-seed oil microcapsules were conducted by scanning electron micrograph (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermal analysis (TGA) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. The different ratio of oil to arabic gum/gelatin on microcapsules property was evaluated and 1:3 was selected as the optimal proportion. SEM showed that the microcapsules exhibited spherical shape and regular distribution. The encapsulation efficiency (EE) was 76.8% and loading capacity (LC) was 18.2% for the optimal formulation. The oxidation of encapsulated poppy-seed oil revealed that microcapsules can enhance the storage stability. Microcapsules show the good performance for poppy-seed oil that can be used in food industries. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.