Abstract
Food industries must adapt their formulations to consumer needs, for a healthy diet. Extruded snacks are products where 10 to 20 % of fat, and large amounts of salt, are sprinkled on to fix flavours. Considering the need for flavouring and simultaneously reducing fat and sodium on snacks, an alternative flavouring method based on polysaccharides and a different salt delivery method was studied. This work aimed to evaluate waxy starch solutions to replace the oil in snacks, and a different approach to deliver salt, decreasing sodium content while keeping the same salt perception. To change the salt level, agglomerates were made with 70 %, and 85 % salt amounts, 30 % and 15 % starch added, respectively, in three different treatments, T1 (70 % of salt), T2 (85 % of salt), and T3 (100 % of salt, without waxy starch) as a control sample. All samples were milled in the same granulometry as regular salt. The snacks were flavoured using coatings consisting of waxy-water solutions. The products were analysed by evaluating: i) physical-chemical parameters (lipids and sodium content, agglomeration index analysis (IA), and colour); ii) instrumental hardness; iii) sensorial parameters with 52 non-trained tasters. The main results showed no significant differences between T1, T2, and control samples in terms of lipids, sensorial perception, colour, and texture. As expected, in the sodium content, 30 % of reduction were found in T1 and 15 % of reduction in T2 compared with control. In this context, snacks produced in the present study would be healthier without a significant saltness perception difference from the controls.
