Advances in Structural Modulation of Functional Food Proteins: Mechanisms, Strategies, and Future Trends

Proteins, as core macronutrients in human nutrition, play irreplaceable roles in growth and development, tissue repair, and physiological regulation. With the acceleration of population aging and the rising demand for health-oriented products, functional food proteins have attracted increasing attention for their health benefits beyond basic nutrition, showing broad application prospects in medical foods, sports nutrition, and healthy aging. The functional properties of proteins are highly dependent on their complex hierarchical structures. However, conventional food processing often causes uncontrolled disruption to these structures, thereby limiting their application potential. Therefore, how to achieve targeted regulation of protein structure and function through precise regulation strategies has become an important research issue in food science. This review systematically summarizes the theoretical basis for the structural regulation of food proteins, including denaturation and renaturation mechanisms, intermolecular interactions, and multi-scale characterization methods for conformational changes. It highlights advances in various structural regulation techniques, such as physical field treatments (e.g., high pressure, ultrasound, and cold plasma), biological approaches (e.g., enzymatic hydrolysis, fermentation, and genetic engineering), and green chemical methods (e.g., pH-shifting and glycosylation). The synergistic effects of combined physical and biological approaches are also discussed. Furthermore, this review discusses the potential of functional food proteins in different application scenarios. In light of current challenges and industrial obstacles, it proposes that future research should focus on precise regulation mechanisms, cross-scale structure-function relationships, and the development of sustainable processing technologies. This review provides a comprehensive perspective on the structural modulation and innovative processing of food proteins, aiming to support both scientific research and industrial innovations in functional foods.