Impact of salt levels on the sensory profile and consumer acceptance of Italian dry‐cured ham

Abstract

BACKGROUNDReduction of the salt (NaCl) content in typical Italian dry‐cured ham is intended to reduce sodium dietary intake to meet World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations for the prevention of serious diseases. This reduction is a complex issue because of the multiple roles that salt plays in the product. Hams that were processed to obtain a final product with target salt levels (hams with reduced salt concentration and controls) were analyzed using chemical parameters (salt, moisture, fat, and proteolysis indexes). Their sensory properties were described by a trained panel and 87 consumers evaluated the impact of salt reduction on their liking for the products.RESULTSThe dry‐cured hams under investigation are representative of Italian dry‐cured hams, which are considered to be low and medium to high in terms of salt content. Consistent with the role of salt in proteolytic enzymes inhibition, there was an increase in the proteolysis index in fully matured dry‐cured hams with reduced salt content. Salt level affected saltiness perception but also texture, color, and, to a lesser extent, flavor intensity in matured dry‐cured hams. On average, reduced‐salt dry‐cured hams resulted in increased consumer liking. However, the resulting three consumer segments (37%, 27%, and 36% of the consumer cohort, respectively), differed in the acceptability ranking given to reduced‐salt hams and controls.CONCLUSIONThe tested reduction in salt content, besides improving the nutritional profile of dry‐cured ham, was effective in increasing consumers’ acceptance. These results were useful for exploring the effect of reducing salt concentration on consumer liking for dry‐cured hams. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry

Partial Characterization of the Impact of Saffron on the Sensory and Physicochemical Quality Traits of Dry-Cured Ham

“…Because of this, sensory analysis are one of the most important methods in judging food quality [ 64 ]. Previous studies [ 52 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 ] have reported these parameters in ham and indicated the importance of flavor in the overall quality of dry-cured ham. However, the present study is the first to our knowledge to determine the degree of satisfaction of cured ham spiced with saffron.…”

Effect of Salt Content Reduction on Food Processing Technology

“…This division indicates how important the role of salt is in the processing of meat into meat products. Salt also has a role in proteolytic enzymes inhibition [ 32 , 45 , 46 , 47 ].…”

“…Higher temperature and salt reduction positively affected flavour formation, increased proteolysis and free amino acids content. Salt influenced proteolytic enzymes inhibition; therefore, in reduced-salt meat products, an increase in the proteolytic index was observed [ 47 , 131 ]. To reach the same safety condition of the reduced-salt dry-cured Italian ham, the cold-drying period was prolonged.…”

Effect of reducing sodium chloride based on the sensory properties of meat products and the improvement strategies employed: a review

“…Fellendorf et al [ 61 ] reported that 60% of salt could be reduced without any impact on the sensory effects, except for saltiness. For dry-cured ham, the decreased salt content was found to have a significant effect on redness, marbling, saltiness, hardness, fibrousness, and overall quality [ 66 ]. However, consumer liking of reduced-salt dry-cured ham was higher than that of the control; this is because consumers have expressed that reduced-salt dry-cured ham was healthier than the control.…”