Abstract
This study aimed at understanding how the presence or absence of NaCl influences dough rheological performance of soft wheat cvs. currently used in the Italian bread manufacturing industry as a scientific support to national health strategies to reduce the use of NaCl in bread. For this reason 176 flour samples belonging to 41 soft wheat cvs. currently cultivated in Italy, were analyzed for their protein content, Zeleny sedimentation value, and by means of the Chopin Alveograph and Brabender Farinograph, with no salt and with 1.5% salt addition (average salt content in Italian bread). Three selected cvs. (Aubusson, Bolero, and Blasco) were additionally studied by means of the Rapid Visco Analyzer (RVA) at three levels of salt addition (0%, 1.5% and 3.0%). The fermentation behaviour of the cvs. Aubusson and Blasco was also studied by means of a Rheofermentometer under the same conditions. The results of our study confirmed the role of salt in strengthening the wheat gluten network (up to 86%), and thus the gas retention of dough and in affecting yeast activity. However, it also definitely proved that careful cultivar selection can help in overcoming technical challenges in reduced-salt bread manufacturing and eventually, it opens the path to wheat breeding for reduced-salt bread baking.
Highlights
Sodium is essential for the human metabolism
In industrialized countries, 10–15% in average of sodium intake is naturally occurring in foods, 10–15% comes from discretionary use of salt during home cooking or at the table and the remaining 70–75% comes from processed foods where salt is used extensively for several purposes [8,9,10,11]
Quality parameters relative to the technological performance of all the soft wheat flour samples analyzed in this study are presented in Table 1 where descriptive statistics are reported for protein analyzed in this study are presented in Table 1 where descriptive statistics are reported for protein content, sedimentation value according to Zeleny, Alveograph parameters, and Farinograph parameters
Summary
Current sodium intakes far exceed health recommendations [1]. Excess sodium intake is associated with hypertension, which is a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases; it has been estimated that 62% of strokes and 49% of coronary heart diseases are caused by high blood pressure [2]. High sodium intake has been associated with several other negative health effects, including renal disease, renal stones [3], decreased bone mineral density [4], gastric cancer [5], asthma [6], and possibly obesity [7]. WHO recommends a maximum adult salt intake of 5 g/day [12]. Different strategies and policy options have been proposed to achieve this goal and several initiatives have been implemented especially in the European region, aiming at reaching this level of salt consumption [11,13,14,15]
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