Abstract: To improve the stability of tobacco flavorings, heterocyclic-flavor microcapsules with sustained-release properties were prepared via the inclusion complexation method, with β-cyclodextrin and chitosan serving as composite wall materials and 2,3-diethyl-5-methylpyrazine as core material. Taking embedding rate as the evaluation index, the preparation process was optimized by response surface methodology. The microcapsules were characterized and analyzed by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and their sustained-release properties were studied to investigate their release characteristics in heated non-burning cigarettes (HNB). The results indicated that the optimal preparation conditions were as follows: mass ratio of wall materials (β-cyclodextrin:chitosan) of 4:1 and wall-to-core mass ratio of 3:1, stirring speed of 600 r/min, and reaction temperature of 40 ℃. Under such conditions, the embedding rate reaches (90.95 ± 2.35)%. SEM and FTIR results verify the successful preparation of microcapsules, which mostly exhibited smooth and flat sheet-like structures on the surface. The microcapsules also possess favorable thermal stability and sustained-release properties. Incorporating the as-prepared microcapsules into HNB cigarettes effectively improves their sensory quality.