6533b7d1fe1ef96bd125bf93

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Heterogeneous distribution of salt and aroma in hot snacks: flavour perception, saltiness enhancement and liking

subject

description

Due to the negative effect of salt overconsumption on health, worldwide health authorities have requested food companies to reduce the salt content of their products. However, to reduce the salt content is problematic, as it induces many changes such as modification of texture, reduction of shelflife, and the decrease of palatability of food products. The first part of this work was devoted to investigate different strategies of salt reduction in hot served complex food products. Heterogeneity of salt distribution was investigated in savoury pies composed of a pastry and a cream filling layer, and in four-layer cream-based products. Then, the odour-induced saltiness enhancement strategy (OISE) and the heterogeneous distribution of flavour compounds were combined and assessed in four-layer cream-based snacks, and in savoury flans varying in the size of the ham pieces. Saltiness and acceptability were explored in these complex hot-served food products. The second part of this work was devoted to investigate the relationship between saltiness enhancement, temporal release and perception of flavour compounds in hot snacks with heterogeneous distribution of salt and aromas. Complementary technics were used: nose-space PTR-Tof-MS to assess aroma in vivo release, and Tl and TDS to investigate the perception as a function of time. Heterogeneity of salt distribution enhanced the salty perception in hot-served layered snack products, whereas a decrease in harm particle size led to an increased salty taste intensity in hot savoury flans. The strategy of concentrating salt in the outer layer of a multilayer product was found to be the optimal solution as far as taste intensity is concerned. The salty taste enhancement could be due to the initial strong dominance of the salty sensation at the very beginning of the eating process. This likely contributes to explaining why an initial aroma sensation was observed for products with homogeneous salt distribution.