Food-derived active ingredients are a kind of bioactive substances which come from food and can regulate human function and promote human health.They mainly include bioactive peptides,polysaccharides,polyphenols,flavonoids.Thermal processing can cause changes of food-derived active ingredients in food,such as degradation,oxidation,Maillard reaction.Therefore,it is very important to select suitable processing methods according to the thermal stability of food-derived active substances.Based on the classification of peptides,polysaccharides,polyphenols and flavonoids,in this paper,the research progress of the content,activity and structure of four kinds of food-derived active ingredients under three kinds of thermal processing conditions:sterilization,baking and cooking were reviewed,which will hopefully provide a theoretical rationale for the rational utilization of food-derived active ingredients in the food field and the improvement of food processing methods.