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

Abstract

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.

Introduction

The excessive consumption of sodium, coupled with changes in eating habits, such as reducing the intake of fruits and vegetables, is associated with a high risk of hypertension and other chronic non-communicable diseases. The recommendation of the World Health Organisation is not to consume more than 2 g/day of sodium or 5 g of salt for adults; however, the average consumption is around twice of most people. Sodium can be ingested in the salt added to the preparation of food, or in processed foods like bread, bacon, cheese, salty snacks, and some condiments among others. The amount of salt and sodium consumed depends very much on the habits of the population, also by the government programs and industry strategies. These intervene and promote products and politics to reduce sodium content, both, in daily life and available products (Chindapan et al. 2018; World Health Organization 2020).

In this regard, various techniques to reduce the sodium content of foods have been studied, such as gradual reduction, salt substitutes, and modification of salt crystal size, among others. Even though their effectiveness has been proven, there are some characteristics of the food matrix that can interfere with the saltiness perception. It has been reported in the literature, the tendency of sodium to form unions with polar composites, like proteins or water, and the characteristics of the food matrix, like protein type, lipid content, humidity, or fracturability (Kuo and Lee 2017; Thomas-Danguin et al. 2019).

Various techniques, such as nuclear magnetic resonance or spectroscopy, have been employed to detect the features of food or sodium behaviour, as well as sensory analysis to evaluate its link with saltiness perception. These characteristics of food are very important for both the improvement and reducing saltiness perception. This must be considered when the aim is to produce a salty low sodium product.

Considering all those factors, the objective of this review is to identify the possible effect of food matrix and salt incorporation technique on saltiness perception, mechanisms to possibly identify this effect, and how all these factors can be useful if they are focused on designing a low-sodium product.

Effect of food composition on saltiness perception

The food products are composed of several components, with different effects of the matrix composition over saltiness perception. Among these, there was identified that the time that salt can be perceived increases with the highest fat content in dry-cured hams (Fuentes et al. 2013). The increase in salty flavour has been associated to the fat content and sodium concentration in the aqueous part of asparagus soup. It may be associated with the filler effect, nevertheless, surpassing 40% of fat content in the soup, this effect reduced its effectiveness in improving salty flavour (Lima et al. 2018), so it does not fully explain this result. Similar results were found by Torrico and Prinyawiwatkul (2015), using oil-in-water emulsions. All the versions with added fat were detected as saltier; nevertheless, this enhancing effect was maintained until reaching 0.75% oil concentration.

Other components of foods, like proteins, seem to affect sodium mobility and saltiness perception. Some authors have identified that soy protein maintains more bound sodium to them than milk protein or gelatine (Mosca et al. 2015). This effect was attributed to the content of negatively charged amino acids, like aspartic acid. Nevertheless, the mix with soy protein was detected as saltier in the sensory tests, indicating that bound sodium did not decrease the perception of the salty taste.

The different components of the food matrix can interact with each other and affect the saltiness perception. Thus, it has been proved that fat and protein can form emulsions, and in turn, sodium can interact with proteins. In this way, the hydrophobic part of protein tends to form unions with lipids, while, the hydrophilic part can interact with sodium or other positively charged molecules (Kwon et al. 1996; Sippel and Quiocho 2015; Chang et al. 2017).

When the emulsions are produced, the hydrophilic part of the protein is driven toward the outside of the fat droplet, producing a larger surface area for salt to adhere to (Fig. 1). In this sense, when solutions and emulsions are compared, even when the protein content was less in the emulsion, the sodium adhesion to proteins was more evident in the emulsion, and the saltiness perception was less. Even more, when the emulsions were lyophilized, the speed of sodium release and saltiness perception increased significantly. It indicates that there was a relation between the type of matrix (depending on water content) and the interaction with the sodium (Yucel and Peterson 2015a, b).

Fig. 1.

Representation of the interaction of the different components in emulsions and their interaction with sodium ions

Some authors have used the preparation of soy protein isolate and gum arabic, to modify the distribution of sodium in the preparation of pea starch as an option with low cost and applicability in the food system (Li et al. 2020). With this modification, the dissolution speed of sodium increased, and the saltiness perception improved, which could favour the reduction of the necessary amount of sodium to give the product a salty taste.

Similarly, when using a double emulsion system including sodium in the formulae, the fat droplets were bigger, compared with a simple emulsion. When the sensory analysis was performed, the double emulsion was detected as saltier most of the time than the simple emulsion system (Ilyasoglu Buyukkestelli and El 2019).

Techniques to modify saltiness perception

Not all the reports in the literature have the objective to improve saltiness or to identify the sodium behaviour in different matrices. However, when the objective was to improve saltines perception to reduce the salt content necessary to flavour different foods, we can find several effects. Regardless of the technique used, most of them included salt direct into the matrix, heterogeneous distribution, with modification of particle size, coated, mixed, or substituted with potassium chloride (KCl) or other enhancers (Table 1).

Table 1.

Techniques of saltiness modification in food and its effect

Technique of salt addition	Product	Effect over saltiness perception	References
Reduction of particle size	Chips Pizza crust Hamburger meat Hamburger meat Shoestring potatoes Potato crisps	Improvement Improvement Improvement None Improvement Improvement	(Rama et al. 2013) (Mueller et al. 2016) (Gaudette et al. 2019) (Rios-Mera et al. 2020) (Rodrigues et al. 2016) (Hurst et al. 2022)
Heterogeneous distribution	Chips Pizza crust Layered hot snack Sodium-containing coacervate with soy protein isolate, Arabic gum and pea	Improvement Improvement Improvement Improvement	(Rama et al. 2013) (Mueller et al. 2016) (Emorine et al. 2013) (Li et al. 2020)
Sneaky reduction	Pizza crust	Decrease	(Mueller et al. 2016)
Substitution with KCl	Pizza crust Shoestring potatoes	Improvement Improvement	(Mueller et al. 2016) (Rodrigues et al. 2016)
Combined with grape pomace extract	Tomato soup, white soup, chicken broth	None	(Taladrid et al. 2020)
Substituted with monosodium glutamate or umami compound	Corn extruded snack	Slight improvement	(Harada-Padermo et al. 2021)
Encapsulated with carnauba wax	Bread	Improvement	(Beck et al. 2022)

Regarding techniques used, the modification of particle size was the most common (Rama et al. 2013; Mueller et al. 2016; Rodrigues et al. 2016; Gaudette et al. 2019; Rios-Mera et al. 2020; Hurst et al. 2022) followed by the heterogeneous salt distribution (Emorine et al. 2013; Rama et al. 2013; Mueller et al. 2016; Ilyasoglu Buyukkestelli and El 2019; Li et al. 2020). It should be noted that most of the foods used in these researches were products usually considered with high sodium content. Sodium substitutes like KCl, despite their potential to improve saltiness perception, give a bitter or metallic taste detectable to consumers, which limits their use (Cerrato et al. 2017).

The use of other components added to the elaboration of foods like some by-product’s extracts were tested. The use of these by-products offers the opportunity not only as a mechanism to improve the flavour of low-sodium food but also for the possible beneficial effects of its flavonoids content. In this case, the incorporation of extract of winery by-products into various foods, like tomato soup, white soup, and chicken broth (Taladrid et al. 2020). Although no enhancing effect of salty flavour was found, this extract gave other flavours to these foods. Also, when it was tested in the elaboration of low-sodium recipes at home by the participants, it was sensory accepted.

Other flavours, like umami taste, maybe be an option to improve the acceptability of low-sodium snacks. Monosodium glutamate has been used as a substitute for salty taste, but not in all cases; it can replace all the flavour provided by salt. Not only this ingredient is used but also, an umami extract of shitake mushroom by-products was created as a replacer of salt and monosodium glutamate in corn-extruded snacks (Harada-Padermo et al. 2021). Applied to the surface of these products, neither the monosodium glutamate nor the extract had the capacity to replace the reduction of salt of reduced-sodium versions of the snacks. Even if the salty taste was not totally replaced, it is important to highlight that the products were sensory accepted.

Another option used to enhance salty taste was the modification of the particle size of salt, which has been proven to enhance saltiness perception, but in this case, it is important to maintain the integrity of the salt crystal. In this sense, this technique is usually used on the product surface (Rama et al. 2013), or coated with fat (Gaudette et al. 2019). It has been proposed that crystals of salt with a reduction in size, hollow structure, or structures that can divide during dissolution increase the crystal surface area in contact with an aqueous phase, and its dissolution speed. Therefore, the salty flavour can be detected in less time, allowing this technique to be used as an option, to reduce the amount of salt needed to flavour a portion of food (Quilaqueo et al. 2015).

The modification of salt particle size, elaboration process, or texture of potato crisps over saltiness perception and acceptability were evaluated by Hurst et al, (2022). In this case, they compared commercial chip products with versions that they elaborated with reductions of 30% of sodium content. To enhance the perception of salty taste, they incorporated the salt into different sizes and figures (hollow structures); as it has reported before, this can increase the saltiness perception. They found that, if well the commercial version with more sodium was also the one with a major salty taste, the elaborated products were also qualified as sufficiently salty. It is worth mentioning that they proposed that the effect of the chewing characteristics of the participants, may be of most relevance when the salt is in the food matrix and not on the surface, as in this case.

Beck et al. (2022) encapsulated NaCl with carnauba wax as a mechanism to control the solubility of the salt when added to bread. There were formed capsules adding the wax into the salt and mixing it. These capsules later were incorporated into the elaboration process of bread with different proportions of added salt. Also, comparing the velocity of solubility of salt encapsulated and not encapsulated, there was a significant delay in the solubility time due to the wax effect. After the elaboration of the bread, the non-trained panellist referred to non-significantly differences between the version with 2 and 1.5% of salt; when it is non encapsulated and encapsulated salt, respectively. With these results, they proposed that this mechanism may improve the saltiness perception in the elaboration of bread, and with that reduce the sodium added.

Considering these techniques of adding salt, and the search for the integrity of the salt particle, the interaction with the matrix of the food and sodium may be present in small amounts in these foods. Nevertheless, when salt is added as part of a food ingredient, the composition may influence saltiness perception. For this, it is important to consider the method of incorporation of salty compounds into the food.

Saltiness perception and sodium mobility

Sodium is a cation that contributes to the salty taste and is commonly found in sodium chloride (NaCl) or common salt. Due to its positive charge, it tends to join with negatively charged molecules. This tendency generates modifications in sodium mobility, such that it has been found that in solutions containing negatively charged gums, sodium has decreased mobility. When the negatively charged gums were sensory tested, they were detected as less salty (Roseit et al. 1994, 1995).

Foods containing more complex matrices, such as fat, protein, water, or other components, they interact with one another. These interactions between matrix components were identified in the cream layer of pork paste using Raman spectroscopy or in emulsions using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) (Herrero et al. 2011; Shao et al. 2015). Because these interactions are present in the food matrix, the sodium behaviour may be modified.

The incorporation of gums with different emulsifying properties (high acyl gellan [HAG], k-carrageenan [CG], locust bean gum [LBG], and xanthan gum [XG]) into surimi sausages, modified the formation of the gel network and the sodium liberation rate. This conformation was identified by FTIR, with the shift of the peak in the region 3350 cm⁻¹. This change indicated the formation of hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic interaction between the gums (HAG, CG, and XG) and the proteins. The changes in the region 500–600 cm⁻¹ especially in sausages with HAG and CG, are related to a major number of disulphide bonds. Regarding the solubility of sodium, it was evaluated through conductivity imitating a mastication process using a compression test combined with stirring. It was found that the major value of conductivity in less time was for the sausage with CG and control, data that agreed with a sensory test (Wang et al. 2021).

It is well-established that sodium interacts with negatively charged and dipolar molecules, and this may modify the perception of salty taste or solubility rate; yet, the interaction between this ion and molecules has not been explored in all circumstances. It is of great relevance because most foods include complex matrices that could alter how salt behaves in each individual dish.

For that, investigations have used 23 sodium nuclear magnetic resonance (²³NaNMR), to determine its mobility, as seen in Table 2; this test has been performed in emulsion and semisolid matrices (Mosca et al. 2015; Defnet et al. 2016; Okada and Lee 2017). Nevertheless, in other matrices used in different types of foods (meat, chips, pizza crust, etc.), most of these products found in the market do not use this analysis to identify sodium mobility (Table 2). The Time Intensity Scale (TI) was the sensory scale most frequently used in this research (Rama et al. 2013; Lorido et al. 2015; Mueller et al. 2016; Kuo and Lee 2017). Other tests that were used are structured and non-structured sensory scales (Emorine et al. 2013; Chabanet et al. 2013; Mosca et al. 2015; Cerrato et al. 2017; Lima et al. 2018; Gaudette et al. 2019), and the Temporal-Check-That-All-Apply technique (Rios-Mera et al. 2020), among others. Only one of the revised investigations (Mosca et al. 2015) combined both ²³NaNMR and sensory tests, so it was possible to relate both of the results.

Table 2.

Tests used to identify sodium behaviour or salty taste by matrix type, salty compound, and addition technique

Test	Matrix	Salty compound	Addition technique	References
23NaNMR	Oil in water emulsion Protein semisolid matrices	NaCl NaCl NaCl	Direct into the matrix Direct into the matrix Direct into the matrix	(Okada and Lee 2017) (Defnet et al. 2016) (Mosca et al. 2015)
Time intensity	Solid lipoprotein colloid Chips Pizza crust Dry cured ham	NaCl NaCl NaCl KCl NaCl	Direct into the matrix Into the surface with different crystal size Direct into the matrix and sprayed into the surface (NaCl solution) Direct into the matrix	(Kuo and Lee 2017) (Rama et al. 2013) (Mueller et al. 2016) (Lorido et al. 2015)
Sensory scale	Oil in water emulsion Hamburger meat Protein semisolid matrices Chicken sausages Layered hot snack Asparagus soup Corn extruded snack Encapsulated salt	NaCl KCl NaCl NaCl NaCl NaCl NaCl NaCl NaCl	Direct into the matrix Direct into the matrix with different crystal size and coated with a layer of fat Direct into the matrix Direct into the matrix Distributed with different concentration into the layers Direct into the matrix NaCl combined with monosodium glutamate or umami compound NaCl encapsulated with carnauba wax	(Cerrato et al. 2017) (Gaudette et al. 2019) (Mosca et al. 2015) (Chabanet et al. 2013) (Emorine et al. 2013) (Lima et al. 2018) (Harada-Padermo et al. 2021) (Beck et al. 2022)
Temporal-Check-That-All-Apply	Hamburger meat	NaCl	Into the matrix with or without reduction of crystal size and coated with fat (micronized salt)	(Rios-Mera et al. 2020)
Quantitative saltiness analysis	Sodium-containing coacervate with soy protein isolate, Arabic gum and pea	NaCl	Into the matrix with coacervate	(Li et al. 2020)
Triangular tests	Double emulsions	NaCl	In the exterior component of the double oil in water emulsion	(Ilyasoglu Buyukkestelli and El 2019)
Just About Right Test (JAR)	Corn extruded snack	NaCl	NaCl combined with monosodium glutamate or umami compound	(Harada-Padermo et al. 2021)
Rate All That Apply (RATA)	Corn extruded snack	NaCl	NaCl combined with monosodium glutamate or umami compound	(Harada-Padermo et al. 2021)
Speed of solubility with atomic absorption	Encapsulated salt	NaCl	NaCl encapsulated with carnauba wax	(Beck et al. 2022)

The sensory evaluation of the salty taste is one of the most interesting factors when the product evaluated has a modification in its composition or sodium content. Of the different techniques that have been applied to determine this flavour, depending on the test, the characteristics of the panel or participants may vary. For example, the TI that has been used to determine the modification of the salty taste over time is usually realized with the participation of trained panels with experience in this kind of tests (Rama et al. 2013; Lorido et al. 2015; Kuo and Lee 2017). With this evaluation, it is possible to get several pieces of information. As previously reported, the intensities of the flavour vary at different times, for example, at 5, 10, and 120 s (Lorido et al. 2015). Other data that can be obtained with the TI protocol are maximum saltiness, the time in seconds to reach the maximum saltiness, the rate of saltiness increment, the rate of saltiness decrement, the area under the curve, the time in seconds until the saltiness reaches zero after expectoration (when the sample is not swallowed), etcetera (Rama et al. 2013; Kuo and Lee 2017).

The capacity to detect and differentiate tastes seems to be one of the characteristics considered in the selection of a sensory panel, especially when the test requires a special procedure for its realization. However, it is important that, regardless of this ability, when evaluating the saltiness of a product, the panellists must not have taste or smell alterations or some chronic diseases (Cerrato et al. 2017).

Considering the different options of sensory tests that can be applied to the evaluation of the salty taste, when a trained panel is the one that carries it out (as in the case of the TI protocol), the size of the population participating is reduced. For example, when the objective was to evaluate the perceived saltiness and bitterness of an emulsion (spread product), the recruitment of participants was in the general population of a university. Due to the characteristics of the population and of the sensory scale, it was necessary to consider a sample of 300 participants over 18 years old (Cerrato et al. 2017). On the contrary, with sessions of training to detect the basic flavours, the sample size used to detect the salty taste in protein semisolid matrices was 13 participants (Mosca et al. 2015). In both cases, they used an intensity scale from 0 to 100, where 100 means the most intense flavour.

The saltiness intensity can be evaluated not only due to intensity scales but also using as reference dilutions with known concentrations of salt. In the work presented by Li et al. (2020), they considered the participation of 12 volunteers with no previously reported taste or smell alterations. As the objective of the study was not only to identify the perceived salty taste but also the speed at which the sodium was released from a semi-solid gel, it was necessary to provide specific training for that. As for the salty taste, they were trained in the identification of basic flavours; for that, the panel was considered a trained one, and the number of participants was not necessary to be higher.

The triangular tests can also be used to identify the saltier sample among a group of samples. Ilyasoglu Buyukkestelli and El (2019), elaborated double emulsions with the addition of salt in the water layer. As they wanted to compare the effect of the double emulsion with a single emulsion, a triangular test was applied. In total 11 participants tested the samples, in which both versions of emulsions were included, and identified the odd one, and the saltier one.

When a product is modified to enhance its salty taste, the opinions of the participants who are consumers of the product may be of great interest. The saltiness intensity can be adjusted considering the results of the sensory scales, as reported, and the option for that end is to apply the just about right scale (JAR). In a job in which a snack was modified to enhance the salty taste due to the addition of umami compounds, the participation of 99 untrained panellists was considered. They evaluated the general acceptability of the product and the intensity of the salty and cheese flavour with the JAR. The characteristic of this scale is that, depending on the selected value on the scale, it indicates whether the stimuli are extremely intense than ideal, ideal intensity, or less intense than ideal. In this work, the RATA method (Rate-All-That-Apply) was also applied. Considering the sensory attributes of the snacks that were previously identified by a trained panel, the participants tasted and identified if the attributes were applicable for the samples (Harada-Padermo et al. 2021). With all of this, it is important to select the most adequate test or combination of tests depending on the product and the population participating.

Furthermore, as mentioned above, one of the tests that can identify sodium mobility is the ²³NaNMR, while the interaction between protein, fat, or other components (like carbohydrates), can be studied by FTIR or Raman spectroscopy (Herrero et al. 2011; Shao et al. 2015; Sun et al. 2020). In addition, to evaluate salty taste, sensory analysis can provide important information about its perception. For that, the combination of these techniques can be used to understand in a better way the relation between sodium mobility, the interaction between food components, and salty flavour. The food industry can benefit from an understanding of these influences, which will ultimately help in lowering the sodium level of food.

Possible fields and future applications

Due to the different effects that the interaction of sodium and food matrix may have on salty taste modification, taking advantage of this behaviour may represent an option to elaborate sodium-reduced products. Also, it is important to consider the food in which the reduction technique is going to be used because not all of them can be applied the same way.

As can be observed in Table 1, the majority of the products that were modified to improve the salty taste or reduce the sodium content are products that are commonly consumed by the population. For that, considering these products (usually high in sodium) as target products may be an opportunity area to investigate.

Not only is the product important when the modification of the salty taste is realized, the perception of this flavour may be modified by the feeding behaviour of the people that are going to be eating that food, that is, if the habitual consumption of salt is above the recommendation, it is going to be more difficult for these people to accept a reduced or low-sodium product (Harada-Padermo et al. 2021). Additionally, the salty taste may be interpreted differently depending on whether the product is marketed for children, adults, or elderly people.

In the case of vegetable soup, a reduction of 30% in added salt did not affect its acceptability of it when compared to a group of children and elderly people, even without adding extra flavourings. It is important to highlight that this type of soup is commonly consumed in the region where the study was conducted (Gonçalves et al. 2014). When comparing the satisfactory degree of salty grissini, adults gave higher values than children, possibly associated with the higher frequency of consumption of salty bread and cookies by the adults (Fonseca-Bustos et al. 2018).

Some authors have evaluated the perception of salty flavour in white sauce by people 60–68 years old (Montero and Ross 2022). They considered their health habits, salt consumption patterns, and the kind of food they typically consume. Modifying the preparation of the sauce, reducing the amount of salt added, and incorporating chipotle and herbs as seasoning supplementation, they elaborated various formulations of the sauce to be evaluated. After applying a difference-from-control test (DFC), they found that the participants that usually eat a smaller number of processed meals detected more efficiently the changes in the added salt.

Also, the incorporation of aromatic herbs and condiments has been implemented as a mechanism to improve the perception of salty taste. That is the case of a ready-to-eat chicken pasta meal in which, with a reduction of 75, 50, and 25% of added salt, the versions elaborated with herbs were perceived as saltier compared with the versions without herbs (Barnett et al. 2019).

The combination of non-thermal technologies with the reduction of added salt may be an option, especially for meat products. The use of UV-C and high hydrostatic pressures (HHP) were studied as a mechanism to improve the saltiness perception and other physical characteristics of fish batter. The principal negative effect of meat products after the reduction of added NaCl is cooking loss. In this study, it was observed that the use of either UV-C and HHP in combination with a reduction of the added salt by 25% (related to the control) resulted in fish batter that was judged to be as salty as the control fish batter. The authors attributed this effect to the level of water holding capacity, which was similar to the control, and how these technologies affect the interaction of the food matrix and the sodium (Monteiro et al. 2021).

The modifications in sodium behaviour depending on the food matrix require the interactions of the ions with the charged molecules. For that, if the food is sprayed with salt in its original form or with modifications in size, these interactions may not be so obvious. In foods that contain proteins or other charged molecules, taking advantage of the behaviour of these molecules interacting with the charged ions to alter the salty taste can be useful to elaborate on or modify the products. Emulsions are one of the possibilities for incorporating them into other ingredient, as in the case of salad seasoning, the perceived salty taste can be enhanced, and as consequence, less salt is necessary to savour (Ilyasoglu Buyukkestelli and El 2019).

Conclusions

The finds presented in this review demonstrate that matrix components and sodium interact. As a result, determining the condition of food components and how they interact may provide useful information on sodium mobility and how it affects salty flavour. Using a suitable combination of analytical techniques can provide an alternative to determine the most effective mechanism for reducing sodium content in food, while enhancing the perception of salty taste, considering both sodium behaviour and the influence of the food matrix.

Components like fat seem to affect the salty taste in different ways, not only enhancing it but surpassing some concentration, the opposite effect may be observed. Also, the behaviour of sodium seems to be different depending on the type of matrix, whether there is high or low water in the medium, independent of the other components present, like proteins or fat.

The type of food and the target population also must be considered when low or reduced-sodium products are designed. Although there are several options for enhancing the salty taste of food and so reducing the amount of added sodium, not all of them may be employed equally. If the salty compound is applied to the surface, the product usually has low moisture and the salt particle (if applied) must be maintained.

Condiments, substitutes, and flavour enhancers (like monosodium glutamate) may be an option, especially as a replacer of sodium, substituting the reduction on salty taste. In this case, it is necessary to investigate if there is no interaction between these components and sodium. Also, not in all cases, the products were perceived as equally salty as the original version. This effect may be related to the fact that not all people perceive flavours, in the same way, depending on their feeding habits or health conditions.

Considering all of this, identifying the characteristics of the matrix of the food of interest, using the appropriate techniques of analysis, applying the most appropriate technique for enhancing salty flavour, and targeting the product to some population, are the key points in the reduction of sodium content in food development.

Supplementary Information

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Author contributions

VF-B collected the information and redacted the manuscript, LCM-B and TJM-S revised and corrected the manuscript, LER-O and YYM-N revised the manuscript.

Funding

V. Fonseca-Bustos want to thank the National Council for Science and Technology (CONACYT) for its financial support (Grant 788673) throughout her PhD program at CIAD, A.C.

Data availability

The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Code availability

Not applicable.

Declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.

Ethics approval

Not applicable.

Consent to participation

Not applicable.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.