Texture and colour characteristics, and optimisation of sodium chloride, potassium chloride and glycine of reduced‐sodium frankfurter

Summary The three‐components mixture design was applied to optimise a ratio of NaCl (0%–65%), KCl (35%–100%) and glycine (0%–20%) in reduced‐sodium frankfurters. Fourteen frankfurters were analysed for texture and colour, and consumer (n = 100) acceptability. Results indicated that NaCl levels affected consumer acceptability of reduced‐sodium frankfurters. Increasing NaCl generally increased texture hardness. Optimisation of a salt mixture was performed by superimposing contour plots of predicted acceptability scores (≥5.5 on a 9‐points hedonic scale) of all sensory attributes and revealed the optimal salt mixture: 40.03%–63.66% NaCl, 35.00%–55.90% KCl and 0.00%–20.00% glycine. The optimal salt mixture contained 220–340 mg Na/100g frankfurter compared with 540 mg Na/100 g of the control formulation (100% NaCl). The mean overall liking score (5.9 vs. 5.9) of the optimal reduced‐sodium frankfurter was not different from the control (100% NaCl). This optimal formulation had >25% sodium reduction and could be claimed as ‘reduced‐sodium’ according to US Food and Drugs Administration regulation. The optimum region of reduced‐sodium frankfurter formulations, obtained by superimposing acceptable MRS contour plots of sensory acceptability responses, is a function of NaCl, KCl and glycine concentration at 40.03%–63.66%, 35.00%–55.90% and 0.00%–20.00%, respectively.