Ganesan Balasubramanian, Brown Kelly, Irish David A, Brothersen Carl, McMahon Donald J
Dairy Technology and Innovation Laboratory, Western Dairy Center, Department of Nutrition, Dietetics, and Food Sciences, Utah State University, Logan 84322.
Dairy Technology and Innovation Laboratory, Western Dairy Center, Department of Nutrition, Dietetics, and Food Sciences, Utah State University, Logan 84322.
J Dairy Sci. 2014;97(4):1970-82. doi: 10.3168/jds.2013-7443. Epub 2014 Jan 31.
High sodium intake negatively affects consumer health, thus there is active interest in lowering sodium levels in dairy foods. Cheddar and low-moisture, part-skim Mozzarella cheeses were made with total salt levels of 0.7, 1.0, 1.25, 1.35, and 1.8% (wt/wt) in triplicate, thus reducing sodium by 25 to 60%. Multiple manufacturing protocols for salt reduction were used to produce cheeses with similar postpress moisture and pH, independent of the final salt levels in cheese, in order to study the role of salt in cheese acceptability. Cheese flavor was evaluated by a descriptive taste panel on a 15-point intensity scale. Consumer acceptance was evaluated by a consumer panel on a 9-point hedonic scale. Taste panels conducted with cubed Cheddar cheese (at 3 and 6mo) and cold shredded Mozzarella cheese (at 3wk) showed that consumer liking for cheese was low at 0.7 and 0.9% salt, but all cheeses containing higher salt levels (1.25, 1.35, and 1.8% salt) were comparably preferred. The cheeses had acceptable liking scores (≥6) when served as quesadilla or pizza toppings, and consumers were able to differentiate cheeses at alternate salt levels; for example, 1.8 and 1.5% salt cheeses scored similarly, as did cheeses with 1.5% and 1.35% salt, but 1.35% salt cheese scored lower than and was discernible from 1.8% salt cheese. Descriptive panelists perceived salty, sour, umami, bitter, brothy, lactone/fatty acid, and sulfur attributes as different across Mozzarella cheeses, with the perception of each significantly increasing along with salt level. Salty and buttery attributes were perceived more with increasing salt levels of Cheddar cheese by the descriptive panel at 3mo, whereas bitter, brothy, and umami attributes were perceived less at the higher salt levels. However, this trend reversed at 6mo, when perception of salty, sour, bitter, buttery, lactone/fatty acid, and umami attributes increased with salt level. We conclude that consumers can distinguish even a 30% salt reduction and a gradually phased sodium reduction is needed to improve acceptability of lower sodium cheeses.
高钠摄入会对消费者健康产生负面影响，因此人们对降低乳制品中的钠含量有着浓厚兴趣。切达干酪和低水分、部分脱脂的马苏里拉干酪分别以0.7%、1.0%、1.25%、1.35%和1.8%（重量/重量）的总盐水平进行了三次制作，从而将钠含量降低了25%至60%。为了研究盐在奶酪可接受性中的作用，采用了多种降低盐含量的生产方案来生产具有相似压榨后水分和pH值的奶酪，而不受奶酪最终盐水平的影响。由一个描述性味觉小组以15分强度量表对奶酪风味进行评估。由一个消费者小组以9分喜好量表对消费者接受度进行评估。对切成方块的切达干酪（3个月和6个月时）和冷切碎的马苏里拉干酪（3周时）进行的味觉小组测试表明，盐含量为0.7%和0.9%时消费者对奶酪的喜爱程度较低，但所有盐含量较高（1.25%、1.35%和1.8%）的奶酪受到的喜爱程度相当。当作为玉米饼或披萨配料时，这些奶酪的喜好得分可接受（≥6），并且消费者能够区分不同盐水平的奶酪；例如，盐含量为1.8%和1.5%的奶酪得分相似，盐含量为1.5%和1.35%的奶酪得分也相似，但盐含量为1.35%的奶酪得分低于盐含量为1.8%的奶酪，并且可以区分出来。描述性小组成员认为，不同马苏里拉干酪的咸、酸、鲜味、苦、肉汤味、内酯/脂肪酸和硫属性有所不同，每种属性的感知都随着盐水平的升高而显著增加。在3个月时，描述性小组认为随着切达干酪盐水平的升高，咸和黄油味属性的感知更多，而在较高盐水平下，苦味、肉汤味和鲜味属性的感知较少。然而，在6个月时这种趋势发生了逆转，此时咸、酸、苦、黄油味、内酯/脂肪酸和鲜味属性的感知随着盐水平的升高而增加。我们得出结论，消费者甚至能够区分30%的盐含量降低，并且需要逐步分阶段降低钠含量以提高低钠奶酪的可接受性。
