The salinity of the brining solution for preparing kimchi imparts saltiness to kimchi, and affects its overall taste. In this study, the changes in the overall taste and quality of kimchi depending on the salinity of the brining solution (6% and 12%) were investigated. The salinity of kimchi brined in 6% NaCl solution was approximately 1.3%, and its umami (2.22±0.22) was lower than that (2.96±0.16) of the conventional kimchi, brined in 12% NaCl solution. In contrast, its bitterness (-3.77±0.05) was higher than that of the conventional kimchi (-4.48±0.12). The sensory evaluation results showed that the overall taste score of the low-salinity kimchi (2.8±0.4) was significantly lower than that of the conventional kimchi (4.5±1.1). To overcome the deterioration in the overall taste, a taste enhancer with a sea tangle extract and anchovy extract was added to the low-salinity kimchi. The overall taste score (4.4±1.2) of the seasoned kimchi, which is the low-salinity kimchi supplemented with the taste enhancer, was comparable to that (4.5±1.1) of the conventional kimchi, while maintaining a salinity of 1.7%. This study demonstrated the benefits of proper taste enhancer for improving the taste of low-salinity kimchi.

The preparation of commercial, low-salinity kimchi needs to be carefully monitored to maintain the taste of kimchi. To address this, the taste profiles of three brands of commercial kimchi were examined using a taste sensing system, as well as a sensory evaluation. The average sensory score (4.3/9.0) in the overall taste of low-salinity kimchi (A', B', and C') was significantly lower than that (5.1/9.0) of conventional kimchi (A, B, and C). The explanation for the result of A' seemed to be its decrease in saltiness (3.51) and increase in bitterness (8.55) compared to those (6.55 and 7.65, respectively) of A. In B', the saltiness (4.25) and the overall taste (3.7) were significantly decreased compared to B (6.23 and 4.8, respectively). Interestingly, no significant difference was observed in the overall taste (5.1) and saltiness (6.70) of C' when compared to C (5.3 and 6.46, respectively), confirming that salinity is a crucial factor in determining overall taste. Consistent with this finding, the overall taste of low-salinity kimchi correlated positively with its saltiness (>0.98) and umami (>0.82). These results advocate the careful determination of salinity required to maintain the taste of conventional kimchi in preparing low-salinity kimchi, while also pointing towards the need to develop effective taste enhancers for supplementing overall taste.