Development of Salt Reduction Bread and Evaluation of its Nutritional and Sensorial Attributes

Abstract

Hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases are global issues and are mainly associated with sodium intake. Table salt covers the main portion of sodium in our diet and different bakery products, especially bread is the main breakfast item that is consumed on daily basis. The present study was designed to prepare bread by varying salt concentrations in different bread samples and their different properties were evaluated. The results showed that by decreasing salt concentration in bread, moisture level increased significantly due to less moisture binding capacity of salt. While ash content decreased due to less sodium. Color values (L, a*, and b*) also significantly changed by decreasing the salt concentration. The volume of the bread increased as we decrease salt content up to a certain limit and a similar trend was observed in specific volumes. Less weight loss was observed in bread with less salt up to a certain level. As salt serves as a preservative, the more microbial attack was seen by lowering the salt content in bread. In a sensory evaluation by the trained panelists, bread made with 1.5% and 1% salt got 7.6 and 7.4 scores in overall acceptability, respectively which showed acceptable sensory characteristics in reduced salt bread. We can conclude that by decreasing salt concentration in bread, we can move towards a more healthy diet with acceptable sensorial and textural attributes.