Abstract:The interactions of starch, lipids and proteins during thermal processing can significantly affect the flavor, taste, texture, nutritional properties and shelf-life of food products, which has received extensive attention in recent years. Understanding the mechanisms underlying the interactions between starch and other food components is of high significance for quality control in food processing. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, as an important theoretical computational analysis method, play a critical role in gaining insights into the interactions between starch and other components, which has drawn much attention in recent years. After brief description of the formation and structure of starch-lipid complex and starch-lipid-protein complex, this review article comprehensively summarizes the latest research about the basic theory, definition and operation procedures of MD simulations and their applications in investigating the interactions among starch, lipid and protein, and provides future directions in this area.
