"Why So Salty?" - Reducing Salt in Meatballs with Heterogenous Distribution

Abstract

Processed food is a big contribution to the increasing intake of salt among the population, which today is the double of the recommendation stated by the World Health Organization. This high intake of salt affects the human health in such a way that it can increase blood pressure, which in turn can lead to cardiovascular diseases, which are already the main cause of death cause among the world’s population. A step forward in trying to decrease the intake of salt is thus to lower the salt content in processed food, though this is challenging since the salt both affects the acceptance of the product and other important food characteristics, such as the texture.

The aim of this thesis was to investigate if the salt content in meatballs produced by Orkla Foods Sweden, could be lowered without affecting the salt intensity, and moreover how this decrease would affect the texture and the overall flavour. The strategy used was to immerse the meatballs in a salt solution, leading to an uneven distribution of the salt by resulting in a higher concentration of salt on the exterior than in the interior of the meatball. This should, according to hypotheses, increase the perception of salt, and thereby it was thought that the salt intensity of the meatballs could be retained.

Trials were performed to get an understanding of how the immersion would affect the perception of salt of a neutral meatball and how different concentrations of salt in the batter would affect the texture. Thereafter, meatballs with different salt-in-batter and salt concentration in the solution were combined, resulting in a meatball with around 0.6 \%-units less than a reference. The meatballs that best could achieve the aims of this thesis were then evaluated in a sensory evaluation together with a reference meatball and a meatball which has not been immersed in a salt solution but have the same salt content as the combined meatballs.

The result of the sensory evaluation concluded that the heterogeneous distribution of salt in the meatball would not increase its salt intensity, and thereby should not be used as a method for salt reduction in meatballs. It was also concluded that texture parameters, such as cohesion, would be affected, but the juiciness of the meatball and its overall flavour would not be affected when regarding a decrease of salt of 0.6 \%-units and less.

Popular Abstract

Whether it was your favourite lunch during your school years, your go-to dinner solution for stressful days, or simply your main intake during traditional holiday festivities: if you have ever lived in Sweden, meatballs have probably played a big role in your life.

But what if we told you they contain a great amount of salt, and that salt consumption, in fact, is one of the biggest threats to human health today? According to the World Health Organization, the average human consumes twice the recommended salt intake daily. This can be related to cardiovascular diseases, that in turn represent the number one cause of death in the world right now. To be able to lower the salt content of our favourite every-day foods, without changing any taste or texture, would therefore be a dream come true.

In this study, a method of doing this, by unevenly distributing the salt throughout the meatball, was examined. More precisely, the goal was to have a higher concentration of salt on the exterior than in the interior of the meatball. The theory used, was that the salt that we taste, is the salt that is in touch with our taste buds. Therefore, much salt is swallowed without contributing to any salty flavour. Thus, that the saltiness in the first bite of a food, is of importance to our sensory experience. If this method were successful, it could be applied to other processed products and give salt reduction in a great variety of foods.

Concretely, a salt solution was made, where meatballs containing a lower content of salt were immersed, resulting in a salted coating around the product. The best combinations of salt within the batter and on the surface of the meatball were chosen to be tested, along with a reference, and a meatball that had not been immersed but had the same lower content of salt, during a sensory trial. Results from this trial showed that immersing meatballs in salt solution did not make them appear more salty-tasting, and lowering the salt content also made the texture less cohesive. However, they were still seen as both equally juicy and enjoyable as the reference meatball. Possible suggestions for future work were therefore to examine ways to improve texture despite the salt reduction, as this was a major set-back in choosing method-combinations for the sensory evaluation and might have had an effect on the answers and thereby on the conclusion.

• author: Thurfjell, Maria and Scholander, Clara
• supervisor: Lars Nilsson
• organization: Food Technology and Nutrition (M.Sc.)
• course: KLGM10 20221
• year: 2022
• type: H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
• subject: Technology and Engineering
• keywords: Salt reduction, heterogenous distribution of salt, meat, food technology
• language: English
• id: 9089269
• date added to LUP: 2022-06-17 11:49:24
• date last changed: 2022-06-17 11:49:24