Modulating Protein–Starch Interactions for Microstructure and Rheology of Soft‐Textured Dysphagia Foods—A Review

The design of specific texture-modified foods (TMF) for dysphagia offers a feasible strategy for ensuring safe food intake, adequate nutrient acquisition, and enjoyable sensory experiences for the elderly population. Proteins and starches, two fundamental components of TMF, interact to create unique textural and mechanical properties within the food system, ultimately influencing the quality of foods. Investigating the interaction mechanisms between these macronutrients can provide valuable insights and theoretical foundation for the development of novel dysphagia foods. This paper reviews the interactions between proteins and starches, and their effects on rheological behavior, structural properties, swallowing characteristics, and digestibility of TMF. Special attention is given to the influencing factors and underlying mechanisms. The review also explores development methods and evaluation systems for TMF, with particular emphasis on filling current knowledge gaps and future perspectives. The protein-starch interaction influences rheological viscoelasticity, structural compactness, swallowing texture parameters, and digestive barrier effects of TMF by modulating network structures and intermolecular forces within composite systems. Processing methods and compositional ratios are critical for optimizing these properties. Achieving a balanced design of swallowing safety and nutritional functionality requires the integration of multi-scale characterization techniques. Moreover, individual nutritional and digestive needs of patients require special attention when designing TMF. Current evaluation system for TMF present certain limitations. Further investigation, including the application of artificial intelligence (AI), is essential to the elucidation of correlations among protein-starch interaction mechanisms, structure and functional properties of composite systems, and textural and swallowing characteristics of TMF.