Abstract:Octenyl succinic anhydride（OSA）modified starch was widely used in food industry as food additives.It can be used not only as an emulsifier and thickener，but also as a carrier of dietary functional factors for its hydrophilic and lipophilic properties.The traditional preparation of OSA starch was esterifying starch with octenyl succinic anhydride under weak alkaline conditions.Recently，the substitution and improvement of the traditional preparation process had attracted extensive attention.The ultrasonic assisted，mechanical assisted，or microwave assisted pretreatment of starch and the selection of experimental design methods had been applied in the preparation of OSA starch with the purpose of improving the reaction efficiency，shortening the reaction time and improving the performance and quality of OSA starch.In this paper，the preparation，optimization，characterization，property analysis and application of OSA starch were reviewed.