Lipids-modified starch: Advances in structural characteristic, physicochemical property, and application

Starch and lipids, as two important biomacromolecules in nature, can interact with each other to form a unique complex system during processing, leading to the change of the structural and functional characteristics of starch. The complex formed though the biomacromolecules interaction is a new kind of modified starch named as "lipidmodified starch". At present, the lipids-modified starch has attracted much researchers' attention and become a hotspot topic in food field. This review systematically discusses the different prepared methods (solvent and thermomechanical method) of lipids-modified starch, influence factors of starch-lipids complexation, action mechanism of lipids on starch, as well as the structure, physicochemical properties, digestibility, and applications of lipid-modified starch in recent development. The key findings are summarized as follows: (i) Starch complexed with fatty acids to form V-type inclusion complex, while other lipids (oils and triacylglycerol) are not due to the large spatial structure; (ii) The formation of V-type inclusion complex changed the molecular and crystalline structure, and increased melting temperature and enthalpy of starch, which could be characterized by different analytical technique, such as X-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry; (iii) The properties of starch and lipids, and experimental conditions are key factors in determining the formation of starch-lipid complexes; (iv) Starch-lipids starch can be used as quality improver, fat substitute, resistant starch, carriers of bioactive ingredients in food processing. Finally, the existing problems about the research on lipids-modified starch are discussed to provide new perspectives for the development of this innovative modified starch.