Starch structure-function relationships and modified starch requirements for applications in dairy analogues: Molecular insights, modification impacts, and applications

Plant-based dairy analogues (PBDAs) represent a rapidly expanding sector driven by health, ethical, and sustainability challenges, where starches often serve as key biopolymer for replicating the dairy texture, stability, and mouthfeel. Yet, many PBDAs rely on starch with tailored functional, structural, and rheological characteristics; for instance, high-viscosity, gel-forming starches suit cheese analogues supporting firm, sliceable textures, while shear-thinning, syneresis-resistant flow starches benefit yogurt analogues, and improved freeze-thaw stability of starches and ability to withstand mechanical shearing without losing their thickening capacity suit frozen desserts, highlighting the benefits of targeted modifications to meet application-specific requirements in the dairy system. While researches document starch modifications and its subsequent application in various individual dairy systems, yet limited comprehensive framework systematically integrates the inherent structural-functional properties of starch (amylose: amylopectin ratios, granule morphology, syneresis, pasting behavior, and crystallinity) with application-specific functional requirements and modification outcomes. The current review addresses this gp by delineating the molecular and physicochemical characteristics of native starch (NS) and outlines desirable structural-functional requirements of the modified starch for diverse dairy analogues (DAs). It systematically assesses the impact of chemical, physical, and enzymatic modification methods on rheology, morphology, stability, and matrix interactions of the modified starches, and highlights the application of modified starches in PBDAs system. Hence, it provides a coherent framework often required for rational starch selection and modification strategies across PBDA categories.