The work aims to reduce the volatilization of Torreya grandis essential oil, and prepare inclusion complex with Torreya grandis essential oil as the core material and β-cycldextrin as the wall material. The best preparing conditions were analyzed by single factor and orthogonal tests, and the structure of the inclusion complex and the release and the antibacterial property of Torreya grandis essential oil were studied. The gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) result showed that the Torreya grandis essential oil contained 43 ingredients, and the main components were limonene (27.82 wt.%) and α-pinene (27.77 wt.%). Then, the optimal preparation conditions of the inclusion complex were as follows:the wall-to-core ratio was 12, the embedding temperature was 40 ℃, and the embedding time was 2 h. Under these conditions, the entrapment rate of the Torreya grandis essential oil was 58.76% and the particle size of the microcapsule was 0.4-1.0 μm. The inclusion complex showed antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. At the temperature of 20 ℃, the Torreya grandis essential oil volatilized completely in 4 days, but the retention rate of the Torreya grandis essential oil in the complex was 73.66% after 20 days. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and thermogravimetric (TG) result show that the inclusion complex of Torreya grandis essential oil/β-cyclodextrin was successfully prepared by molecular embedding method, achieving the effect of slow release of Torreya grandis essential oil.