The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of plasticizer type (glycerol，oleic acid and polyethylene glycol) and plasticizer quantity on the surface and mechanical properties of cast zein film.Additionally，the viscosity of the zein-forming solution and the water absorption，surface microstructure of plasticized zein films were analyzed and compared.The data showed that，the oleic acid-plasticized solution possessed the highest viscosity while the glycerol-plasticized one had the lowest viscosity by zein-plasticizer interactions.The surface microstructure of zein films were affected and the water absorption capacity of zein-based film was dependent on the hydrophilic/hydrophobic plasticizer used，and decreased in the order of glycerol-plasticized film，polyethylene glycol plasticized-film and oleic acid plasticized-film.In the case of oleic acid-and polyethylene glycol-plasticized films，the initial contact angles with water or alcohol increased with increasing plasticizer quantity，while the glycerol-plasticized films showed a different pattern.The data of dynamic contact angle were well fitted with exponential equation，and the decreasing rate of contact angle was a function of time in a plasticizer type-dependent manner，and decreased in the order of glycerol-plasticized film，polyethylene glycol plasticized-film，oleic acid plasticized-film.The tensile strength (TS) of polyethylene glycol plasticized-film decreased with increasing plasticiser quantity，while a dramatic increase in elongation at break (EB) occurred.This data indicated that polyethylene glycol was an effective plasticizer for zein-based film.While，only a slight increase in EB was observed for glycerol-plasticized film and oleic acid plasticized-film with increasing plasticizer quantity.