Eucommia ulmoides seed oil-apple juice beverage was used as the research object, and sterilized by cold plasma (discharge power 750 W, treatment 90, 120, 150 or 180 s) or thermal treatment (65 ℃ 30 min, 80 ℃ 20 min, 90 ℃ 10 min or 90 ℃ 15 min). The physical and chemical indexes were determined for analysis and comparison. The results showed that the total number of colonies was not detected for both the thermal treatment and cold plasma treatment with insignificant change in pH (p>0.05). The plasma treatments increased the soluble solids content (by up to 7.73%), whilst the heat treatments had insignificant effect (p>0.05). The total phenolic content and content of flavonoids were well maintained after the plasma treatments, whilst the thermal treatments decreased the flavonoids content (by up to 6.34%). The cold plasma treatment and heat treatment led to the maximum decreases of total sugar content by 11.42% and 20.48% respectively, and the maximum increases of reducing sugar content by 18.46% and 10.34% respectively. The cold plasma treatments increased the total acid content of the beverage (by up to 26.23%). Both treatments caused a certain degree of reduction in the antioxidant activity of the beverage, and the changes were similar. In terms of stability, the heat treatments increased the particle size by up to 8.19% and decreased the absolute value of ζ-potential by up to 6.54%. Whereas, the plasma treatments had insignificant effects on ζ-potential (p>0.05). In general, compared with thermal sterilization, cold plasma sterilization is more suitable for the Eucommia ulmoides seed oil-apple juice beverage, with a shorter sterilization time, higher efficiency and better maintenance of beverage quality.