Lutein was nano-encapsuled with hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose phthalate (HPMCP) to maintain its bioactivity and to avoid thermal/light degradation. Supercritical antisolvent precipitation was applied to prepare lutein/HPMCP nano-capsule. The effects of several operating parameters on the yield, lutein loading, encapsulation efficiency, particle size and particle size distribution of the nanocapsule were investigated. The mean diameter of nanocapsules ranged from 163 nm to 219 nm under appropriate experimental conditions. The result of scanning electron microscope showed that the nanocapsules were nearly spherical. The highest yield reached 95.35% when the initial concentration of lutein was saturated. The highest lutein loading of 15.80% and encapsulation efficiency of 88.41% were obtained under the conditions of 11 MPa, 40 degrees C and C-HPMCP : C-lutein = 5 : 1. The results may promote the application of lutein in food industry.