Understanding the effect of different chloride salts on the water behavior in the salted meat matrix along 180 days of shelf life

• Published in: Food research international Vol. 125; p. 108634
• Main Authors: Vidal, Vitor A.S., Bernardinelli, Oigres Daniel, Paglarini, Camila S., Sabadini, Edvaldo, Pollonio, Marise A.R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Canada Elsevier Ltd 01.11.2019
• Subjects: Bovine meat; Chloride salts; LF-NMR; Salt dehydration; Sodium reduction; Sodium reduction; LF-NMR; Salt dehydration; Chloride salts; Bovine meat
• ISSN: 0963-9969; 1873-7145
• DOI: 10.1016/j.foodres.2019.108634

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of different chloride salts (NaCl, KCl, and CaCl2) on water behavior in salted meat during 180 days of shelf life by Low Field Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and physicochemical analysis. Four salted meat treatments were made using the following salts in the wet and dry salting steps: FC1: 100% NaCl; F1: 50% NaCl +50% KCl; F2: 50% NaCl +50% CaCl2; F3: 50% NaCl +25% KCl + 25% CaCl2. The analyses performed were: moisture, pH, aw, weight loss and Low Field Nuclear Magnetic Resonance. The use of CaCl2 as a salt substitute to NaCl during the elaboration of salted meat caused a decrease of pH and higher values of aw and weight loss when compared with the treatments containing only NaCl or NaCl + KCl. The morphology of the salted meat changed with the addition of CaCl2, possibly making the matrix structure more open and facilitating dehydration, whereas the NaCl replacement by KCl did not cause significant modifications in salted meat characteristics during 180 days of storage. In general, the results demonstrated that the addition of KCl may be a good alternative to reduce the sodium content in salted meat product, and the Low Field Nuclear Magnetic Resonance method has proved a good tool for obtaining additional information on the changes that salts can cause in the structure of salted meat products. [Display omitted] •Different chloride salts influenced the physical characteristics of salted meat along 180 days of storage.•The LF-NMR was an effective method to analyze the water behavior in salted meat.•Using CaCl2 resulted in a greater weight loss and the highest water activity.•Addition of CaCl2 led to lower values of entrapped, immobilized and mobile water.