From texture to digestion: Understanding multi-component interactions in designing starch-based low-glycemic index soft foods

Dysphagia, characterized by impaired swallowing, is commonly managed using starch-based texture-modified foods that ensure safe swallowing and energy provision. Starch's versatility and structural-textural adaptability, makes it a key ingredient in dysphagia diets. However, conventional starch-based foods often exhibit high glycemic indices (GI), posing risks for dysphagic individuals who frequently present with or are predisposed to diabetes. Modifying starch through complexation with proteins, dietary fibers (DFs), lipids, or polyphenols can not only tailor texture but also lower digestibility, enabling the development of low-glycemic index soft foods (low-GISFs). This review synthesizes recent insights into starch interactions with major food macromolecules in binary and multicomponent systems and critically evaluates their influence on starch's physicochemical, textural, rheological, and digestive properties. Furthermore, it outlines key design considerations for developing dysphagia-friendly low-GISFs that address additional challenges such as malnutrition and glycemic balance. Proteins form interwoven networks with starch chains; DFs enhance hydration and encapsulation; lipids form inclusion complexes yielding ordered crystalline structures; and polyphenols establish inclusion or non-inclusion complexes that modulate enzymatic accessibility. Within these starch-based systems, whether binary or multicomponent, these macromolecules regulate texture, water retention, and starch digestibility. Although soft texture and low-GI behavior have been studied independently, their integration is critical for designing foods for vulnerable populations. Developing multicomponent starch-based composites through informed selection of component ratios, structuring techniques, and functionality, offers a promising strategy to achieve safe, nutritionally-balanced, and metabolically appropriate low-GISFs. • Low-GI control is as crucial as texture in starch-based foods for dysphagia. • Diverse components interact differently with starch but yield similar functional effects. • Binary and ternary systems improve texture and digestibility but lack full nutrition. • Multicomponent design and processing can yield low-GI soft foods for safe swallowing.