How to reduce salt in sausages?

How can we reduce the amount of salt when producing sausages, sausages, hamburgers, mortadella, ham, salami, coppa and other sausages? And most importantly, without losing flavor and quality.

How to reduce salt, sodium chloride (NaCl), in sausages?

There are two strategies for reduction of sodium content, the use of NaCl substitutes and the physical modification of salt crystals.

Reduction in sodium content

The main substitutes are potassium salts (KCl), magnesium (MgCl2), calcium (CaCl2) and K-lactate. KCl is the most commonly used substitute, however, its use can bring a bitter, astringent and metallic taste to meat derivatives. In turn, MgCl2 and CaCl2 have the disadvantage of not ionically interacting with meat proteins and, therefore, are not capable of solubilizing myofibrillar proteins, reducing the water retention capacity promoted by NaCl.

Mixing salts can be an alternative to minimize these undesirable effects or using them in combination with yeast extracts, condiments and flavor enhancers. There are commercial substitutes for NaCl containing KCl, magnesium sulfate, L-lysine, sodium gluconate and NaCl, in low concentration, which allow reducing the NaCl content in hamburgers, ham, bacon and turkey breast by up to 50%, without affecting the sensory characteristics, but with technological limitations, such as cooking losses and protein denaturation. In turn, flavor enhancers such as the traditional monosodium glutamate (MSG) and amino acid or nucleotide compounds, such as lysine, disodium guanylate and disodium inosinate, cause little compromise to the sensorial and technological characteristics of the product, however, they have a higher cost or may be associated with health disorders such as migraine, nausea and hyperactivity (GMS).

More recently, new ingredients that provide the umami flavor, such as mushrooms (Agaricus Bishoprus and Pleurotus ostreatus flour) and seaweed (sea spaghetti, wakame and nori) have been shown to be possible alternatives. These new ingredients also serve as a source of polysaccharides, improving the texture of products and providing bioactive compounds.

Micronized salt

Considering the second strategy, physical modification of salt crystals for sodium reduction, the use of Micronized NaCl is a more recent and easy-to-apply proposal, which consists of using reduced-sized salt crystals, obtained from micro-grinding salt. As a result, the salt solubilizes more quickly in the mouth, generating the sensation of a salty taste with less quantity. In this form, the addition of 1% of micronized NaCl to beef burgers was sufficient to promote sensory characteristics similar to those of the use of 1.5% of NaCl (reduction of 33%), without compromising the sensorial properties of the product.