In this study, soy protein isolate and modified starch were evaluated as coat material for developing spray-dried flaxseed oil microcapsules. The emulsions were prepared by varying total solids (TS) and oil load (OL) using high shear mixer and then atomized in spray dryer for encapsulation of flaxseed oil. Emulsion with 30% TS and 30% OL had maximum zeta (f) potential value of -36.83 mV, and emulsion having 25% OL and 30% TS had lowest mean droplet diameter of 701.80 nm. Emulsions exhibited shear thinning behaviour. Microencapsulation efficiency (ME), bulk density, tapped density and flowing properties of microcapsules were studied. ME of microcapsules varied from 63.79 to 95.84%. The microcapsule prepared with 30% OL and 30% TS owing to more oil load and zeta potential was selected for evaluation of certain characteristics. Microcapsules were spherical in shape with average particle size of 37.917 lm. Alpha-linolenic acid (18:3) content was 61.67% in the oil extracted from microcapsule. Fourier transform infrared spectra also confirmed the encapsulation of flaxseed oil by selected coat materials. 38.24% oil was released in simulated gastrointestinal conditions from the flaxseed oil microcapsules, and it increased to 60.86% when accompanied with heating prior to digestion.Keywords Flaxseed oil Á Omega-3 fatty acid Á Zeta potential Á Spray drying Á Microcapsule Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (