Cereals are important food crops in China. As the main nutritional component of cereals， starch is closely related to the quality of starch-based foods. However， natural starch has shortcomings such as easy aging and poor shear resistance， and the gelatinized starch also has problems such as water separation， easy aging， and thermal instability， limiting its application range. Introducing hydrophilic colloids such as non-starch polysaccharides is a green and environmentally friendly starch modification method. Moreover， the hydrolysates of polysaccharides also exhibit potential applications to improve the processing characteristics of starch， which is of great significance for food processing. This article summarizes the effects and mechanisms of polysaccharides on starch gelatinization， rheology， texture， and in vitro digestion properties， as well as the research progress in the effects of polysaccharide hydrolysates on the quality of cereal starch. It is expected that this work could provide theoretical reference for improving the physical properties of cereal starch-based foods.