Thermal processes such as pasteurization and sterilization have great importance in the food industry. However, the use of heat in the processing of food matrices can lead to the degradation of important compounds, such as carotenoids. Different technics of nanoencapsulation has been demonstrating an interesting capacity to protect bioactive compounds during storage, but just a few works subject these nanoencapsulated active compounds to common processing conditions in the food industry. In view of this, the present work aims to verify the degradation of β-carotene in nanoemulsions submitted to thermal processes of pasteurization and sterilization. The nanoemulsions were produced by high-pressure homogenization. The oil phase of nanoemulsion was composed of corn oil, Span® 80 and β-carotene, while the aqueous phase was composed of water and Tween 20. The sterilization process was simulated using a thermostatic bath (100 °C for 14 min) and the sterilization process was simulated using a vertical autoclave (121°C for 9 min). The quantification of β-carotene was made before and after the thermal process using high-performance liquid chromatography. The β-carotene content after the thermal treatments showed a significant difference (p<0.5) of the initial content. However, no significant difference (p>0.5) was observed between the two treatments. Although degradation of β-carotene was observed, nanoemulsions were able to retain 73% of the initial carotenoid. The results demonstrate an interesting potential use for nanoemulsions in food products since they are able to protect much of the added β-carotene in its formulation, in addition, studies have shown that this form of nanoencapsulation improves the solubility of this lipophilic compound in aqueous matrices. Being, to our knowledge, the present work, one of the first to report the behavior of β-carotene nanoemulsions and corn oil during thermal processing widely used in the food industry.