Characterization of the sodium binding state in several food products by 23Na nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy

In food, salt has several key roles including conservative and food perception. For this latter, it is well‐known that the interaction of sodium with the food matrix modifies the consumer perception. It is then critical to characterize these interactions in various real foods. For this purpose, we exploited the information obtained on both single and double quantum 23Na nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopies. All salted food samples studied showed strong interactions with the food matrix leading to quadrupolar interactions. However, for some of them, the single quantum analysis did not match the theoretical prediction. This was explained by the presence of another type of sodium population, which did not produce quadrupolar interactions. This finding is of critical importance to perform quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and to understand the consumer salty taste perception.