determining salt concentrations for equivalent water activity.pdfVIP

J. Dairy Sci. 94 :4360–4365 doi:10.3168/jds.2011-4359 © American Dairy Science Association® , 2011. Determining salt concentrations for equivalent water activity in reduced-sodium cheese by use of a model system J. Grummer and T. C. Schoenfuss1 Department of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Minnesota, St. Paul 55108 ABSTRACT determined the concentrations of salt and salt replacer necessary to achieve the same aw as the full-sodium The range of sodium chloride (salt)-to-moisture ratio control in pilot-scale cheese using different replacement is critical in producing high-quality cheese products. salts. The salt-to-moisture ratio has numerous effects on Key words: sodium, cheese, water activity , salt re- cheese quality, including controlling water activity (aw). placer Therefore, when attempting to decrease the sodium content of natural cheese it is important to calculate INTRODUCTION the amount of replacement salts necessary to create the same aw as the full-sodium target (when using Dietary sodium is a key contributor to the develop- the same cheese making procedure). Most attempts ment of hypertension in humans, which can be a pre- to decrease sodium using replacement salts have used cursor to cardiovascular disease in at-risk individuals concentrations too low to create the equivalent aw due (Adrogué and Madias, 2007; Taormina, 2010). Cheese to the differences in the molecular weight of the replac- is a major contributor to sodium in the diet (Grocery ers compared with salt. This could be