Alternatives to in-feed antibiotics (e.g. thymol) is important to maintain sustainable pig production. In this study, the anti-inflammatory effect of thymol was considered and a novel microparticles was developed to deliver thymol and lauric acid to pig gut. The results suggest that thymol can enhance barrier function, reduce ROS production and pro-inflammatory cytokines in IPEC-J2 cells during inflammation. The release of thymol and lauric acid from developed microparticles was determined in vitro. Microparticles with 2% alginate solution displayed a slow release of thymol and lauric acid in the SSF (21.2 ± 2.3%; 36 ± 1.1%), SGF (73.7 ± 6.9%; 54.8 ± 1.7%) and SIF (99.1 ± 1.2%; 99.1 ± 0.6%), respectively, whereas, the microparticles without alginate showed a rapid release of thymol and lauric acid from the SSF (79.9 ± 11.8%; 84.9 ± 9.4%), SGF (92.5 ± 3.5%; 75.8 ± 5.9%) and SIF (93.3 ± 9.4%; 93.3 ± 4.6%), respectively.