Descriptive and Temporal Saltiness Perception Properties of Model Solid Lipoproteic Colloid Foods—Implications for Sodium Reduction

Techniques of incorporation of salty compounds, food matrix, and sodium behaviour and its effect over saltiness perception: an overview

The salty taste is usually associated with the positively charged ion sodium present in sodium chloride. Due to its relevance in the food industry, there have been several studies to determine how this ion behaves in various food matrices, or the use of techniques to improve saltiness perception to reduce the amount necessary for savoury food. Several databases were searched, and it was discovered that sodium can interact with the protein, modifying its mobility, as well as, other components of the food matrix, such as fat, that seem to interfere with saltiness perception, increasing or reducing it. Several techniques were used to identify the interaction between sodium and the food matrix, as well as sensory testing to determine the influence of different modification strategies to enhance the saltiness perception. Due to the multiple factors involved in the salty taste, understanding the effect of the technique to modify saltiness perception, the interaction of the matrix components of the food, and the sodium interaction with those components, can be of use in the developing process of foods with a reduction in the sodium content.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13197-023-05861-6.

Salt and Aroma Compound Distributions Influence Flavour Release and Temporal Perception While Eating Hot-Served Flans

To counteract the negative effect of salt overconsumption on health, strategies have been developed to reduce the salt content in food products. Among them, two promising strategies based on odour-induced saltiness enhancement and the heterogeneous distribution of flavour compounds were combined and assessed in four-layer cream-based snacks. To investigate the relationship between saltiness enhancement, temporal release and perception of flavour compounds in hot snacks with heterogeneous distribution of salt and aroma compounds, complementary techniques were used: nose space PTR-Tof-MS (Proton Transfer Reaction-Time of Flight–Mass Spectrometry) to assess the release of aroma compounds in vivo, and ATI (Alternate Time-Intensity) and TDS Temporal Dominance of Sensations) to evaluate perception as a function of time. The obtained results confirmed that the strategy of concentrating salt in the outer layer of a multilayer product was the optimal solution with respect to taste intensity. Heterogeneous salt distribution decreased aroma compound release and consequently aroma intensity but in different ways according to both salt and added aroma distribution in the food matrix. The salty taste enhancement could be due to the initial strong dominance of the salty sensation at the very beginning of the eating process. The involved mechanisms rely on a combination of physico-chemical and perceptual effects which are not clear yet.

Cross-modal interactions as a strategy to enhance salty taste and to maintain liking of low-salt food: a review

Salt reduction in foods is becoming an important challenge to protect population health from severe diseases as recommended by different health agencies worldwide. Among the reduction strategies already evaluated in order to lower sodium salt content in foods, the use of cross-modal interactions between taste and odour, regardless of saltiness, was revealed to be a very promising method to improve saltiness perception. Cross-modal odour-taste interactions, as means to enhance salty taste in foods, is reviewed. Salt-related odours can enhance salty taste in water solutions containing a low level of sodium chloride through odour-induced changes in taste perception. Odour-induced saltiness perception enhancement (OISE) depends on salt concentration (intensity). OISE was also found to be effective in low salt content solid model cheese but was texture- and composition-dependent. A significant enhancement in saltiness perception induced by Comté cheese and sardine odours was observed only in model foods with soft textures. In ternary odour-sour-salty solutions, sourness additively enhanced saltiness perception with salt-related odours. Finally, in cream-based food systems, a strategy combining OISE and heterogeneous distribution of stimuli was found to compensate for a greater than 35% decrease in salt content without significant loss of acceptability. However, variation in the composition of the food matrix influenced aroma and salt release and consequently the overall saltiness perception. A better knowledge of the mechanisms involved in cross-modal perceptual interactions at the central level should allow for the optimization of their use as salt reduction strategies for healthier food design.