Advances in Starch–Lipid–Protein Interactions in Starch‐Based Food Systems: Bridging Structural Complexity With Functional Design

The interactions among starch, lipids, and proteins during food processing have a significant impact on the digestibility and nutritional value of starch-based diets. Optimizing these interactions presents a promising approach to enhancing nutritional functionality and developing functional foods with targeted health benefits. This review examines research from 2014 to 2024 investigating the mechanisms underlying these interactions and provides a framework for designing functional starch-based foods. The review examines the formation of binary and ternary complexes, considering the properties of the biomolecules involved and the processing conditions, and highlights the multi-scale structural evolution within these complexes. The reduced digestibility resulting from complex formation is explained through physical barriers, steric effects, and enzyme inhibition. The review also discusses the impact of complexation on gut microbiota, fermentation rates, and metabolites. Applications in low-glycemic index (GI) foods, bioactive delivery systems, fat replacers, and clean-label ingredients demonstrate their potential in functional food design. The review emphasizes the importance of the multi-scale structure of the complexes in linking complex formation to digestive and fermentation behaviors. The review also outlines future research directions, including investigating multi-component interactions within real food systems, developing processing technologies for controlled nutrient release and functional integration in starch-based foods, and advancing animal or human trials to correlate multi-scale structures with physiological responses. This review lays the groundwork for the development of functional starch-based foods with targeted nutritional benefits, advancing the fields of food science and nutrition toward innovative strategies for enhancing human health.