Abstract
The present work aims to develop encapsulated NaCl in carnauba wax for bread application, to reduce the salt utilization and assess its impacts on the rheological dough parameters and saltiness perception. Encapsulated salt was obtained blending salt crystals and molten Carnauba wax. Four different bread formulations were produced: 2.0% non-encapsulated salt; 2.0% Encapsulated Salt; 1.5% Encapsulated Salt; 1.0% Encapsulated Salt. Farinograph and alveograph analyses were performed to assess the dough rheology parameters and sensory analysis was conducted to evaluate saltiness. Encapsulation was effective to control Na+ ions release. They vary from 17 to 32 ppm the dissolution of sodium ions in the non-encapsulated and encapsulated samples, respectively. The alveograph and farinograph analyses showed that the 1.5E bread formulation was the closest to the control sample in rheological properties. Finally, a sensory analysis showed no difference in the saltiness perception between control and 1.5% encapsulated salt (4.65 and 4.69 respectively), indicating that carnauba wax encapsulated salt effectively reduced until 35% of salt the bread without changing the saltiness.
Keywords: Salt reduction, Dough rheology, Saltiness perception, Sodium release, Bread, Encapsulation
Introduction
World Health Organization and other international health agencies recommend less than 2 g Na/day, and this limit is widely exceeded in several populations. Bread and other cereal products contribute about 30% to the daily intake of sodium in the western human diet (Silow et al., 2016).
He et al. (2020) expected the salt reduction could be considered one of the most economically effective strategies to avoid cardiovascular diseases.
On the other hand, sodium chloride plays an important role in many processed foods, mainly, because its sensory characteristics and technological importance.
The taste contrast technology, which focuses on the inhomogeneous distribution of food components (such as sugar or salt) to increase taste, has arisen to help reducing the utilization of some components to food matrices without impairing its sensory features (Monteiro et al. 2021; Vinitha et al. 2021; Eva et al. 2016; Noort et al. 2010). Wan et al. (2021) demonstrated that inhomogeneous yogurts with high sugar concentration gradients were sweeter than yogurts with homogeneous distribution. Noort et al. (2010) showed that through taste contrast, it is possible to reduce the amount of salt used in breads. In another study, Noort et al. (2012) used fat encapsulated salt in bread production to create regions of higher salt concentration during the baking process. In more recent application of this technology Monteiro et al. (2021) reduced salt in breads applying waxy starch to encapsulate for salt.
Carnauba wax is extracted from Copernicia cerifera and has been industrially applied as releasing and glazing agents to many food products (Sousa et al. 2019). Its melting point, between 82.0 and 85.5 °C, allows this product to be used as a good encapsulating agent for salt, melting during the baking process and generating high concentration of salt in specific areas of the bread.
Thus, this work aims to assesses the carnauba wax as an encapsulating agent of salt (sodium chloride) crystals, evaluating the effects of the encapsulated salt in the dough’s rheological parameters and subsequent application in bread, aiming to reduce sodium while maintaining the original saltiness intensity.
Materials and methods
Materials
Salt, carnauba wax, ascorbic acid, glucose oxidase and α-amylase (melting point 85 °C) were locally purchased in Maringa (Brazil). Anaconda® wheat flour, dry yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae). Ultrapure water was used in flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry analysis and distilled water was used in dough rheology analysis (farinograph and alveograph).
Methods
Salt granulometry standardization
Coarse salt particles size was standardized between 0.840 and 1.680 mm using an electromagnetic shaker (Bertel, Sao Paulo, Brazil) with 12 and 20 mesh sieves. The samples were sieved for 10 min, with vibration adjusted to 30% of maximum capacity.
Salt encapsulation
Standardized salt particles were encapsulated in a rotary mixer with molten carnauba wax. 200 g of standardized salt were batch mixed for 5 min with 150 g of molten wax (Noort et al. 2012).
After encapsulation, excess wax was removed, and salt was weighed to determine the amount of wax adhered to the salt granules. To assess the homogeneity of salt coating by colorimetric analysis, a sample was prepared by adding powdered bixin (0.05 g) to carnauba wax prior to the salt encapsulation process.
Sodium release analysis—flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry
To perform the sodium content release analysis, 15 mg samples of non-encapsulated salt were weighed and added to 250 mL of ultrapure water. This sample was mixed for 20 min at room temperature (25 ± 2 °C) and solution aliquots were taken at 5, 10, 15 and 20 min to determine the sodium content in solution. Similar procedure was performed for encapsulated salt (ES). The sodium content released by the different samples (non-encapsulated salt, encapsulated salt) was measured by an atomic absorption spectrophotometer (Varian SpectrAA-50B, Mulgrave, Australia) (AOAC, 1995).
Farinograph and alveograph tests
Farinograph (Brabender GmbH & Co model TS, Duisburg—Germany) was used to perform the test with 50 g of flour added from 4 salt concentrations: 1.0%, 1.5%, 2.0% encapsulated salt and 2.0% non-encapsulated salt (1.0E, 1.5E, 2.0E and 2.0NE, respectively), according to AACC Method No. 54-21.02 (2011). Dough water absorption, consistency, dough development time and dough stability parameters were defined.
The Alveograph test (Chopin MA87, Villeneuve-la-Garenne, France) was performed according to AACC method No. 54-30.02 (2011) using 250 g of the mix flour and salt described above. The sodium chloride solution traditionally used is this test was replaced by distilled water, which was added depending on the flour moisture content.
Bread preparation
Four different bread formulations were produced: Control formulation, with 2.0% of non-encapsulated salt in total flour (2.0NE), and carnauba wax encapsulated salt in three different contents 2.0%, 1.5% and 1.0% in total flour (2.0E, 1.5E and 1.0E, respectively).
For the bread making it was used 100% wheat flour, 56% water, 5% yeast, varying amounts of salt, 2% soybean oil, 1% sugar, 0.01% glucose oxidase, 0.01% ascorbic acid and 0.01% α-amylase. The ingredients were mixed for 7 min (Gastromaq MES 25, Caxias, Brazil). After homogenization of the ingredients, the yeast was added and mixed at a rapid speed until the veil like webbing dough was obtained.
Dough portions of 60 g were taken and inserted into a mechanical modeler (G. Paniz MPS 350, Caxias, Brazil) to get the bread shape. Then, they were put in bread proofer for 180 min. Ahead, the already fermented dough was baked in a preheated air circulation oven for 14 min at 180 °C.
Sensory analysis
The sensory analysis was performed with 120 untrained panelists, aged 17–60 years, of both sexes. The test was performed at the same day of bread production in individual cabins, without noise and odors. The saltiness of each sample was classified using the 9-point scale, where 1 corresponds to "Too unsalted", 5 to "Equilibrate in salt" and 9 to "Too salty". Samples were randomized and presented simultaneously. The sensory test was approved by the State University of Maringa Research Ethics Committee (CAAE 18718013.3.0000.0104).
Statistical analysis
The values obtained were statistically analyzed using the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and the means were compared by Tukey test at 5% significance level.
Results and discussion
Salt encapsulation
The wax adhered to salt surface corresponded to 13.87 ± 1.67% of total weight of capsules, lower than the values used by Noort et al. (2012), which ranged between 30 and 37.5% fat, which might affect the sodium release in solution and the food application.
Sodium release analysis—flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry
The sodium release of the samples was assessed every 5 min, from 5 to 20 min. The dissolution was measured for 20 min, as it corresponds maximum time salt particles are mixed in the dough during the bread preparation. The data were plotted in Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Na + ions release per time by atomic absorption spectrometry analysis of unencapsulated salt and carnauba wax encapsulated salt
The carnauba wax sample did not show significant sodium content at any time. However, it was possible to observe that the salt sample encapsulated with carnauba wax had a slow release of sodium ions, thus maintaining points of higher salt concentration after 20 min. On the other hand, in the non-encapsulated salt sample, the salt had diffused entirely through the mass within 5 min. The encapsulated salt showed limited Na + ions release in the solution, indicating that the carnauba wax capsule surrounding the salt worked as a barrier against its dissolution, proving its effectiveness in wrapping the salt crystals.
Farinograph and alveograph tests
Results obtained from the farinograph test (Table 1) showed that the reduction of salt in the 1.5E sample did not affect the consistency and dough development time when compared to 2.0NE. On the other hand, the parameters water absorption and dough stability decreased with the replacement of non-encapsulated salt at any given percentage of encapsulated salt. The decrease on the water absorption is an expected effect on salt reduction. The low values of dough stability might represent a challenge to industrial application, mainly during the mixing stage of bread manufacturing.
Table 1.
Farinograph results
| Water absorption (%) | Consistency (BU) | Dough development time (min) | Dough stability (min) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.0E | 57.2b ± 0.28 | 534.0a ± 7.07 | 1.45b ± 0.07 | 1.50b ± 0.14 |
| 1.5E | 56.5bc ± 0.00 | 508.0ab ± 5.66 | 1.90a ± 0.14 | 1.85b ± 0.07 |
| 2.0E | 56.0c ± 0.00 | 503.5ab ± 6.36 | 1.50ab ± 0.00 | 1.45b ± 0.07 |
| 2.0NE | 59.8a ± 0.28 | 482.5ab ± 12.02 | 1.60ab ± 0.14 | 2.50a ± 0.14 |
a,b,cNumbers with the same superscript letters in the same column are not different at 5% significance (p < 0.05). 1.0E, 1.5E, 2.0E, 2.0NE are respectively, 1.0%, 1.5%, 2.0% encapsulated salt and 2.0% non-encapsulated salt
Similarly, the alveograph results (data not showed) present that the parameters extensibility (L), index of swelling (G) and configuration ratio (P/L) did not differ in any sample. However, analyzing the parameters tenacity (P) and gluten strength (W), it is possible to observe that 1.5E was the only sample that did not differ from the utilization of non-encapsulated salt (2.0NE).
The carnauba wax encapsulated salt has a controlled release of Na+ ions, it is expected that the tenacity and gluten strength will be reduced in some samples.
These results show that it is possible reduce 25% of the salt amount in the bread formulation by using 1.5% carnauba wax encapsulated salt without major effects on rheologic characteristics of the dough.
Sensory evaluation
The Table 2 shows that only the formulation containing 1.0% encapsulated salt had a significant difference compared to the control formulation. Both the 2.0E and 1.5E formulation did not differ from 2.0NE (P < 0.05) on saltiness perception, however, it was possible to observe that between samples 2.0E and 1.5E, there was a significant difference in salinity perception. Noort et al. (2012), working with fat encapsulated salt crystals (diameter from 1000 and 2000 mm), found that it is possible to reduce up to 50% of salt content in bread formulation without decrease of saltiness intensity. Monteiro et al. (2021) also tested the heterogeneity distribution of salt particles in bread and obtained the reduction up to 30% of salt with no decrease of saltiness intensity, and Guilloux et al. (2015) had similar results in pizza dough. By the other hands Guilloux et al (2013) find that only a granulometry do not afected the salt perception.
Table 2.
Averaged scores given by panelists on a structured scale measuring the saltiness intensity of each bread sample
| Samples | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.0NE | 2.0E | 1.5E | 1.0E | |
| Saltiness Intensity | 4.6583ab | 4.8083a | 4.4916ab | 4.0416b |
a,b,cNumbers with the same superscript letters in the same column are not different at 5% significance (p < 0.05). 1.0E, 1.5E, 2.0E, 2.0NE are respectively, 1.0%, 1.5%, 2.0% encapsulated salt and 2.0% non-encapsulated salt
The results found in this study showed a 35% salt reduction, since the standard bread (2.0NE) used 2% of salt in its formulation (based on the weight of wheat flour), the 1.5E bread was prepared with 1.5% of capsulated salt, which showed 13.87% wax. Thus 1.5% capsule corresponds to 0.21 g wax and 1.29 g salt representing a 35% reduction in salt, with an encapsulated salt concentration that best reduces salt content without impairing the saltiness sensation and with minor effects on dough alveograph and farinograph parameters. Also, considering the simplicity of the encapsulating process using carnauba wax, this technology may be easy to industrial application. Finally, further researches should be executed focusing on texture, physical characteristics and sensory acceptation of bread prepared using 1.5% of carnauba wax salt encapsulated, regarding that salt may affect other important bread attributes, such as crust crispness, color and bread volume.
Conclusion
The use of carnauba wax as encapsulating agent of salt crystals showed good results on reducing sodium chloride solubilization, controlling the release of the Na+ ions. The use of 1.5% of wax encapsulated salt (1.5E) promoted minor modifications on farinograph analysis, with differences just on water absorption and dough stability comparing to the control sample (2.0NE). Considering the alveograph test, none of the parameters were affected comparing the 1.5E and 2.0NE samples. Also, the use of carnauba wax encapsulated salt reduced the amount of salt added in bread by 35%, without impairing the saltiness intensity in the final product.
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) through the research project 303597/2018-6. The authors also would like to thank Thiago Augusto Rodrigues, Ph.D. student of Carnegie Mellon University, for the help with English writing.
Author contributions
PHBB carried out the experiments and wrote the MS, NCLB carried out the experiments, ARGM supervised the work and edited the manuscript, MBSS carried out the experiments in rheology, AAMN conceived, supervised the work and wrote the MS.
Funding
Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq).
Availability of data and material
Not applicable.
Code availability
Not applicable.
Declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Ethics approval
Ethics Committee of the State University of Maringa approved this sensory analysis under the Protocol CAAE 18718013.3.0000.0104.
Consent to participate
Not applicable.
Consent for publication
Not applicable.
Footnotes
Publisher's Note
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Contributor Information
Antonio Roberto Giriboni Monteiro, Email: argmonteiro@uem.br.
Maria Brígida dos Santos Scholz, Email: mbscholz@iapar.br.
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