Phytosterols is a kind of natural active substance, which has many physiological functions that beneficial to human body. It can be used as pharmaceutical raw materials and functional food supplements. In recent years, phytosterols have been extensively studied in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases, and a series of research results have been reported. This paper combined the literature recent decades, and introduced the source and distribution, structures and properties of phytosterol, focusing on the preparation technology of phytosterol, including solvent extraction, esterification, distillation, supercritical CO2 extraction, saponification method and microorganism fermentation, and the mechanism of blood lipid lowering function of phytosterols were discussed and summarized. The future research direction was prospected in order to provide the reference for the development and utilization of phytosterols.