The mechanism of glow discharge plasma on starch etching， oxidation， crosslinking and depolymerization was reviewed； The effect of technical parameters of glow discharge plasma， including the effects of gas type， generation mode， treatment power and treatment time on the structure and properties of starch was summarized. In this paper， the granular structure， crystal type， layered structure and the proportion of amylose and amylopectin of starch are summarized as structural changes， while the gelatinization property， rheology， enthalpy and heat change， acidity and solubility of starch are summarized as physical and chemical property changes. Finally， the applications of glow discharge plasma treated starch in the fields of food， packaging and materials industry were summarized， and the research directions and scientific problems to be solved in the future were prospected， which pointed out the research direction for the further research of glow discharge plasma in the field of starch in the future.