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Three main principles towards sodium reduction in food products can be discriminated: chemical stimulation to increase the saltiness perception peripherally, cognitive mechanisms towards increasing awareness or shifting the saltiness preference, and designed product structures that attempt to optimize the delivery of salt to the taste buds. Such designed product structures affect the way salt is released from the product structures or transported to the taste receptors during mastication and may be based on the format or the spatial distribution of the salt, its encapsulation methods or the bulk texture of the product. This review provides an overview of the different principles for sodium reduction in food products, with further elaboration on the third principle which has gained increasing attention in the past few years. In particular, the different methods and mechanisms underlying these product structure designs and their reported successes and challenges are discussed.

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Pectins are traditionally divided into two groups, high methoxy and low methoxy. The groupings determine the charge of the pectin and the gelation mechanism. However, not as yet extensively studied is the impact on gelation of the distribution of the charges as characterized by an absolute degree of blockiness (DBabs). The aim of this study was to characterize rheologically the acid gelation of a pectin with a high DBabs and a degree of methyl esterification of ∼ 37%, in the absence and presence of monovalent ions. The results obtained suggest that a pectin with a blocky charge distribution at pH conditions close to or below the pKa exhibits weak gel-like properties at intermediate frequencies, despite the absence of a permanent network structure. The addition of monovalent ions changed the rheological behavior to resemble that of a strong gel whose properties depended on the type and concentration of the ions.

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