Sodium chloride plays many functional roles in foods, including texture improvement, color enhancement and microbial control.
Besides imparting a salty flavor, sodium chloride enhances other flavors in the food. How sodium chloride does this is not fully understood, which makes mimicking sodium’s flavor qualities a tad more challenging.
Researchers are aware of one mechanism responsible for at least some of detection of the salty taste via sodium—the epithelial sodium channel (ENaC). Finding a compound to target this salty receptor is more difficult than finding high-potency sweeteners to interact with sweet receptors, largely because the receptor is very specific for sodium and for lithium.
Instead, a possibility is to find an enhancer that can keep the ENaC open longer or make fewer molecules of sodium more effective. This has worked with the amino acid arginine, but its high cost has made it an unlikely option.
However, research has shown consumers are regulating salty taste themselves by sprinkling salt on top of low-sodium food. Assuming the food industry can overcome the functional difficulties in reducing sodium in breads, cheeses and meats, sprinkling the surface with a little salt can boost the flavor.
Yeast ingredients can bolster umami, specifically providing a savory, indulgent taste. Although yeast extract is not sodium free, low usage rates can minimize sodium contribution. And though mushrooms themselves can’t reduce sodium, chemicals and compounds from mushrooms can be extracted to increase perceived saltiness in meat, bakery and in topical applications.
For a closer look at sodium reduction—and the strategies used to enhance perceived saltiness of foods—download the free Digital Issue, “Strategies for Reduced-Sodium Formulations."
Besides imparting a salty flavor, sodium chloride enhances other flavors in the food. How sodium chloride does this is not fully understood, which makes mimicking sodium’s flavor qualities a tad more challenging.
Researchers are aware of one mechanism responsible for at least some of detection of the salty taste via sodium—the epithelial sodium channel (ENaC). Finding a compound to target this salty receptor is more difficult than finding high-potency sweeteners to interact with sweet receptors, largely because the receptor is very specific for sodium and for lithium.
Instead, a possibility is to find an enhancer that can keep the ENaC open longer or make fewer molecules of sodium more effective. This has worked with the amino acid arginine, but its high cost has made it an unlikely option.
However, research has shown consumers are regulating salty taste themselves by sprinkling salt on top of low-sodium food. Assuming the food industry can overcome the functional difficulties in reducing sodium in breads, cheeses and meats, sprinkling the surface with a little salt can boost the flavor.
Yeast ingredients can bolster umami, specifically providing a savory, indulgent taste. Although yeast extract is not sodium free, low usage rates can minimize sodium contribution. And though mushrooms themselves can’t reduce sodium, chemicals and compounds from mushrooms can be extracted to increase perceived saltiness in meat, bakery and in topical applications.
For a closer look at sodium reduction—and the strategies used to enhance perceived saltiness of foods—download the free Digital Issue, “Strategies for Reduced-Sodium Formulations."
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