The results presented in this paper show that the solubility of anthracene in water increases significantly when beta-cyclodextrin and alkanols with carbon numbers from 1 to 4 are added to the solution. The concentrations of the anthracene chosen as a model hydrophobic pollutant were determined using UV-vis spectroscopy. It has been demonstrated that the solubility of anthracene in a 1.1 wt% beta-cyclodextrin solution increases by the factor of 45 or 62 when 4 wt% of methanol or ethanol are added, respectively. Obviously, the increase of anthracene solubility is due both to the solvent effect of the alcohols and to the formation of anthracene-beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CD) "guest-host" complexes. We propose, to use the solubility enhancement based on the beta-cyclodextrin/alcohol effect for improving the availability of hydrocarbon pollutants in the biodegradation processes. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.