Starch as a natural polymer is abundant and widely used in various industries around the world. In general, the preparation methods for starch nanoparticles (SNPs) can be classified into ‘top-down’ and ‘bottom-up’ methods. SNPs can be produced in smaller sizes and used to improve the functional properties of starch. Thus, they are considered for the various opportunities to improve the quality of product development with starch. This literature study presents information and reviews regarding SNPs, their general preparation methods, characteristics of the resulting SNPs and their applications, especially in food systems, such as Pickering emulsion, bioplastic filler, antimicrobial agent, fat replacer and encapsulating agent. The aspects related to the properties of SNPs and information on the extent of their utilisation are reviewed in this study. The findings can be utilised and encouraged by other researchers to develop and expand the applications of SNPs.

Native corn starch has a lack of characteristics such as low thermal stability, low resistance to shear force, and a high tendency to retrograde. To address this problem, it needs to be modified to improve its application in the food sector. Hydrothermal modification is one of the physical modifications by heating the starch above the gelatinization temperature with a limited water content. In this study, native corn starch was modified using various methods of hydrothermal modification which did not cause full gelatinization of starch and maintained starch granule integrity i.e., heat-moisture treatment (HMT), autoclave-heat treatment (AHT), microwave-heat treatment (MHT), and osmotic-pressure treatment (OPT). HMT, AHT, and MHT were modified by limited moisture content (30%) and then was heated using an oven, autoclave, and microwave, respectively, while OPT was heated in Na₂SO₄^2- solution using an autoclave. The results showed that the thermal modification did not alter the A-type crystallinity pattern of its native starch, but an amylose-lipid complex occurred resulting A + V-type crystallinity pattern. AHT starch has the highest V-type peak which indicated the highest amylose-lipid complex. The relative crystallinity increased after modification treatment except for OPT. The thermal modification increased thermal stability and increase the retrogradation ability of native corn starch. Parameters of thermal characteristics such as T_o, T_p, and T_c increased and Range of T_{c –} T_o decreased (except for HMT) after thermal modification. Solubility, water absorption capacity, gel strength, and syneresis of native corn starch tend to increase after modification. The best thermal modification of corn starch was OPT because it can produce the modified starch that not only had the highest thermal stability but also a lower retrogradation ability, the lowest swelling volume, higher water absorption capacity, and gel strength. Therefore, the hydrothermally modified corn starch could be applied to canned food, noodle, and bakery.

Sodium is a necessary nutrient for regulating extracellular fluid and transferring molecules around cell membranes with essential functions. However, the prevalence of some diseases is related to unnecessary sodium intake. As a result, a particular problem for the food industry remains a matter of sodium content in foods. It is considered that customer acceptance is associated with salt perception dynamics related to the evolution of food production. It is a significant challenge and technique to minimize the salt content of various foods and provide replacement products with substantial reductions in salt levels. This review summarizes salt reduction strategies related to health problems based on traditional review methodology, with practical and methodological screening performed to determine the appropriate reference sources. Various technological (salt replacement, food reformulation, size and structural modifications, alternative processing, and crossmodal odor interaction) and behavioral strategies (memory process, gradual salt reduction, and swap) are identified in this work, including a deeper understanding of the principles for reducing sodium content in foods and their effect on food characteristics and potential opportunities for the food industry. Thereby, the food industry needs to find the proper combination of each strategy’s advantages and disadvantages to reduce salt consumption while maintaining product quality.