Аннотация:—Activation of the process of phospholipid peroxidation in the presence of divalent and trivalent iron ions can cause cell death. It is generally accepted that the addition of different types of antioxidants should lead to the inhibition of this process. The aim of this paper is to study the effect of the carotenoid astaxanthin as an antioxidant on phospholipid peroxidation induced by iron ions in the composition of nano- and microemulsions. It is shown that astaxanthin in the absence of iron ions, reduced the malondialdehyde content inmicro- and nanoemulsions, in which the particle sizes are about 700–900 nm and 110–130 nm, respectively. However, in the presence of iron ions, in the case of microemulsions, astaxanthin at a concentration of 30 μM reduces the content of malondialdehyde, and at a concentration of 5 μM, it has a prooxidant effect. Astaxanthin has no effect in the composition of the nanoemulsions. It is found that in the presence of iron ions, astaxanthin becomes discolored, undergoing degradation and oxidation. In the case of nanoemulsions, the rate constant of the discoloration reaction is significantly higher than in microemulsions: 18.5 × 103 M–1 min–1and 2.1 × 103 M–1 min–1, respectively. Thus, in the composition of nanoemulsions, astaxanthin quickly degrades and oxidizes (within 30 min), and in the composition of microemulsions, this process is slower. Possible mechanisms of interaction of astaxanthin with iron ions are discussed, which include both the formation of astaxanthin radicals and a nonradical complex with iron ions. The complexation constant of astaxanthin K with iron ions is calculated to be 2.5 × 105 (M–1).