Abstract: There are various kinds of degradation products as complex components from oxidative degradation of β-carotene, which have been identified mainly by gas-liquid chromatography and GC-MS analysis. As results, the generated compounds are mainly identified as low-boiling-point oxygen-containing compounds such as ketones, aldehydes, alcohols, and small amounts of carboxylic acids and their esters, as well as hydrocarbons, among which the most important compounds with the largest contents are β-ionone and dihydroactinidiolide. As the mechanism proposal, oxygen-containing compounds may be formed from degradation of hydroperoxides owing to oxidation of β-carotene, and hydrocarbons may be formed directly from degradation of β-carotene.