The strategy of odor-taste-texture interactions to produce low salt bread: Oral processing and sensory properties

Background and Objectives Since bread consumption has a significant role in enhancing salt intake in the human diet, this study aimed to decrease the salt level in bread while maintaining its desirable properties. The strategy of odor-taste-texture interactions was used to reduce the 50% NaCl level of the bread, in which gel emulsifier was a texture agent, cheese odor was an odor agent, and monosodium glutamate (MSG) and NaCl were taste substances. Bread characterizations (i.e., texture, structure, and mastication), properties of the bolus (i.e., texture and particle size distribution), and the sensory properties of low salt bread were investigated. Findings Bread samples with lower porosity had a denser structure, resulting in higher hardness. The low salt bread samples, formulated with a gel emulsifier (1% of flour weight), showed lower hardness and higher porosity (%). The bread samples with higher springiness needed a longer chewing time. The bread samples with larger air cell sizes resulted in bolus with smaller particle sizes. According to sensory analysis the interactions of gel emulsifier with taste in the bread matrix increased porosity and softness perception. Conclusions Odor-taste-texture interactions were an appropriate strategy to improve some of the sensory properties of low-salt bread samples, such as increasing porosity, bread flavor, and softness. Significance and Novelty The present study investigated the impact of cheese odor-NaCl-MSG interactions combined with a gel emulsifier on the flavor and texture characterization of low salt bread.