The objective of this study was to prepare and evaluate furcellaran beads as an encapsulation material for β-carotene from sea buckthorn juice. Beads were prepared by ionotropic gelation. The influence of bead formulation factors on the particle size and firmness was investigated and the encapsulation efficiency of β-carotene in beads was studied. The nature of the cation, the polymer and cation concentration, and the proportion of volumes of the outer to the inner phase influenced the size and firmness of furcellaran beads. With increasing proportion of sea buckthorn juice in the formulae, firmness of furcellaran beads decreased. The encapsulation efficiency of β-carotene from sea buckthorn juice in furcellaran capsules was 97%. It suggested that furcellaran beads may be applied for β-carotene encapsulation.