Czech J. Food Sci., 2026, 44(1):45-51 | DOI: 10.17221/46/2025-CJFS

Reduction of sodium chloride in bread using encapsulated saltOriginal Paper

Crislayne Teodoro Vasques ORCID...¹, Nicolas Bueno Mordhost Zeraik¹, Claudia Cirineo Ferreira Monteiro ORCID...², Antonio Roberto Giriboni Monteiro ORCID...^1,3

¹ Post Graduation Program in Food Science, State University of Maringa, Maringa, Brazil

² Department of Design, State University of Maringa, Maringa, Brazil

³ Department Food Engineering, State University of Maringa, Maringa, Brazil

High salt (sodium chloride) consumption is a significant public health concern worldwide. There is strong scientific evidence that a high-sodium diet is associated with increased rates of several health problems. This article aims to replace the salt content of sliced bread with salt encapsulated in xanthan gum, providing a non-homogeneous distribution of salt to maintain the perception of salty taste. The key focus of this research is to maintain the product's sensory characteristics and ensure consumer acceptance, a crucial aspect in the success of any food product. For this purpose, three sliced bread formulations were developed and compared: Formulation 1 (F1) as the standard, and Formulations 2 (F2) and 3 (F3) using the encapsulated salt technique, with respective reductions of 30% and 50% in salt. Physicochemical analyses were performed on the products of the three bread formulations. Sensory analysis was also performed on the products from the three bread formulations, involving 80 untrained tasters, to evaluate and compare salt intensity. Thus, it was evaluated that F1 and F2 did not present statistical differences in the sodium content, while F3 presented a difference between the others. Therefore, it was possible to conclude that reducing sodium by 29% using xanthan gum encapsulation can be an alternative to reducing salt without lowering flavour perception.

Keywords: non-homogeneous distribution; sensory; xanthan gum

Received: March 19, 2025; Revised: November 5, 2025; Accepted: November 7, 2025; Prepublished online: February 18, 2026; Published: February 27, 2026  Show citation