Abstract:
High salt, sodium chloride (NaCl), intake has been linked with diseases and strokes. Processed foods to which cheese belongs highly contribute to the dietary salt intake, in indutsrialised countries. Therefore, it might be of interest to reduce salt in cheese. The aim of this review is mainly to outline recent approaches used to reduce salt in cheese. Salt acts as preservative and flavour enhancer in cheese. In addition, salt has a main role in the functional properties of the cheese. Accordingly, there is a challenge in reducing salt without affecting the cheese quality. The reduction of salt was achieved through the decrease of its content used and replacement by potassium chloride. In natural cheese, these approaches adversely affected the cheese properties, particularly the characteristic flavour. In processed cheese, these approaches were more promising than those in natural cheese, as most of the properties were not substantially affected. This might suggest that further research has to be done on reducing salt in natural cheese products.
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