The effects of sugar beet pectin (SBP) on the short-term and long-term retrogradation of wheat starch were investigated by rheological analysis， texture analysis， Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy， X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy， respectively. The results showed that with increasing of SBP concentrations， the peak viscosity， final viscosity and relative breakdown viscosity of wheat starch significantly increased (P<0.05)， while relative setback viscosity remarkably decreased (P<0.05). SBP reduced the sedimentation rate， and the volume fraction of supernatant after 48 hours of standing decreased from 76.03% to 6.01%. After adding SBP， the increment of starch gel hardness during storage significantly decreased from 356.02 to 178.19 g (P<0.05)， the ratio of 1 047 cm-1/1 022 cm-1 decreased from 0.72 to 0.61， and the relative crystallinity decreased from 10.11% to 8.06%. Moreover， scanning electron microscopy results showed that the higher addition of SBP could reduce the surface roughness of starch gel and maintain honeycomb structure after retrogradation. These results demonstrate that the addition of SBP plays a crucial role in interfering with retrogradation of wheat starch. Adding appropriate amount of SBP can reduce the retrogradation degree of starch based food during processing.