Taste is a basic sensation to get attracted toward nutritious foods or avoid possible harmful substances. The basic taste qualities in humans consist of sweet, bitter, umami, salty, and sour. Basically, sweet and umami tastes make food attractive, whereas bitter and sour tastes make it avoidable. Salty taste comprises basic salty and high salt taste. The basic salty taste is known as amiloride-sensitive salty taste, which is inhibited by amiloride, but the high salt taste is not sensitive to amiloride. Moreover, high salt taste can also cause avoidance behavior in human beings. Sodium, one of the most important cations in the body fluids of vertebrates, controls the volume of total body fluids and is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, such as hypertension. The concentration of sodium in body fluids must be under delicate control. A distinction between the salty taste and high salt taste would be a contributing mechanism to control the volume and/or osmolarity of body fluids.

The purpose of this research was to evaluate the correlation between obesity, threshold of salty taste, optimal saltiness and blood pressure in middle school students in a fishing village. The subjects were 115 boys and 103 girls in middle school in a fishing village. The BMI index and systolic and diastolic blood pressures of subjects were measured, and the subjects were divided into a normal and obese group according to their BMI. The threshold of salty taste and salt preference for a semisolid dish (steamed egg dish), liquid dish (bean sprout soup), and a solid dish (raw radish salad), were estimated by sensory evaluation. Calorie intake was measured using the weighing plate method. The boys in the obese group showed significantly higher systolic and diastolic blood pressures than those in the normal, but girls did not. Furthermore, calorie intakes of the boys in the obese group were significantly higher than those in the normal group, but this was not shown in girls. On the threshold of salty taste, both boys and girls in the obese group needed higher concentration of salt than those in the normal group. The threshold of salty taste were significantly positively correlated with systolic pressure and diastolic pressure in boys. Regarding the salt preference in the steamed egg dish, bean-sprout soup, and raw radish salad, both boys and girls in the obese group preferred higher concentrations. The higher concentration they preferred, the higher the systolic and diastolic pressures were in boys, but only systolic blood pressure was higher in girls. From these results, it is evident that a nutritional education program is needed in school to help restricting middle school students salt consumption and decreasing obesity to prevent hypertension.

Excessive salt intake in body induces health risks resulting in high blood pressure or heart diseases. Therefore, the low salt concentration and salt-tasted food is needed by means of the modification of the manufacturing process. The purpose of this study is to study the effect of inhomogeneous salt localization in bread to enhance the saltiness of encapsulated salt. 0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0% of liposome encapsulated salt (LS) was added into the baking of white pan bread. The final salt concentration was adjusted to 2.0% by addition of salt. After baking the bread, moisture content, loaf volume, fermentation rate, color, texture analysis, salt release rate, and sensory test were measured. From this study, moisture content had no significant difference in control and treatments (p>0.05), except for 2.0% LS. The lightness in all treatments was higher than the control’s (p<0.05), whereas there was no significant difference in hardness (p>0.05). From the sensory test, the bread added 2.0% LS showed the highest value from the salty taste. Moreover, it is related to the highest release rate of salt represented at 2.0% LS. In conclusion, the salty intensity of bread can be enhanced by the salt localization using the encapsulation of salt.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the possibility of the use of enzymatically hydrolyzed anchovy protein (eHAP) to enhancing of salty taste in dried pollack soup and mungbean sprout when it was applied in cooking. The salty taste enhancing effect was evaluated by comparing the dried pollack soup samples with eHAP added and the control sample containing 0.6% NaCl, and the result showed that the salty taste enhancing effect was 15%, 25%, 42%, and 46% in the samples with 0.1%, 0.5%, 1.0%, and 1.5% eHAP added, respectively. The overall acceptability was decreased as the eHAP addition was increased. In case of a bean sprout containing 0.7% NaCl, the salty taste enhancing effect was 29%, 18%, 16%, and 31% in the 0.1%, 0.5%, 1.0%, and 1.5% eHAP added, respectively. The lightness and yellowness were decreased as the eHAP addition was increased in both the dried pollack soup and the bean sprout. The pH of the dried pollack soup was decreased but the pH of the bean sprout dish was increased as the addition of eHAP was increased. The application of eHAP to food showed a significant salty taste enhancing effect, but the effect was dependent on the type of foods.

The reduction of the content of sodium chloride in noodle was studied to prevent the problems related to excessive sodium intake, such as high blood pressure and cardiovascular diseases. This study investigated the effect of hydrolyzed anchovy products (HAP) on the salty taste of cooked noodle. The experiment was set up to determine the general properties of dough in dried and cooked noodles, with a sensory test used while increasing the concentration of HAP at same salt contents. There was no significant difference in water binding capacity, solubility, swelling power, lightness, and cooking properties. The redness, yellowness, and hardness were increased upon increasing the contents of HAP. From the sensory evaluation, cooked noodle with added HAP had a high score in appearance, color, texture, and flavor. Moreover, 50% and 75% HAP showed higher values than the control item in saltiness, preference of saltiness, and overall acceptance. Consequently, the HAP could have an effect on dried noodles or cooked noodles as a salty taste enhancer without changing the noodle’s properties.

This study was carried out to investigate the effect of liposome-coated salt (LCS) on the salty taste intensity of noodle. Dough, dried noodle, and boiled noodle with LCS were evaluated physico-chemically for water content, water binding capacity, solubility, swelling power, color, texture, cooking properties, and sensory test. There were no significant differences in water content, water binding capacity, lightness, yellowness, and texture of noodle between the noodles with liposome-coated salt and non-coated salt. For the sensory analysis, the panel did detect more salty taste at 1.0% and 2.0% of LCS compared to the control. From these results, this study demonstrates that liposome coated salt can enhance salty taste, maintaining the same salt concentration without the physical property changes of noodle.

The overconsumption of dietary salt is recognized to play a negative effect on human health such as increasing blood pressure. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of hydrolyzed anchovy products (HAP) on the salty taste of dried noodle. The physicochemical properties and sensory test of dried noodle were determined at different concentrations of HAP. The lightness of the noodle samples was decreased with increasing levels of HAP whereas their redness and yellowness were increased. There were no significant changes in hardness and texture properties by HAP concentration, compared to those of the control. From the sensory evaluation, the 25% and 50% HAP samples showed a high score on saltiness, preferredness, and overall taste acceptability. Consequently, the HAP could be utilized in dried noodles or cooked noodles as a salt enhancer without significantly altering the charateristics of noodles.

This study was conducted as a comparative analysis, using the SPSS 17.0 program for a survey conducted from March to July 2013, on the level of perception and preference factors of Koreans and Americans residing in Virginia, USA(89 male and female adults of 20 years of age or above). For the information on the degree of obesity, a survey was used and the subjects provided with their heights and weights. The researcher used this data to calculated their BMI and distinguished the degrees of obesity. For the BMI, the obesity diagnosis of Korean Society for the Study of Obesity was used for Koreans, and the WHO's obesity diagnosis on adults were employed for Americans. First, regarding the Korean participants, the level of obesity appeared in the order of normal (79.6%), overweight (14.3%), and underweight (6.1%). Also, the level of perceptions of their health conditions appeared in the order of average (51.7%) and good (34.7%). No one perceived their health to be in poor condition. Meanwhile, for the American participants, the order was as follows: overweight at about 45%, normal weight at about 35%, obesity at about 12.5%, and underweight at about 7.5%. In terms of the level of perception of health during ordinary times, about 55% of the American participants answered that they are in good health. Therefore, the Americans were found to perceive their health to be in relatively better condition than the Koreans residing in the USA. Also, concerning the level of interest in health while eating food at ordinary times, the American participants were discovered to be more interested (about 62.5%) than the Korean participants. The research on their preference for salty taste was conducted as a survey, and the subjects were asked to choose an item according to their subjective feeling. Regarding the preference for salty taste, both Koreans and Americans residing in the USA responded as moderate. However, a higher proportion of Americans than Koreans responded to favor salty taste. Concerning the reason for their preference for salty taste, Koreans responded with various reasons whereas Americans mostly responded that it is because they eat salty food frequently. For any changes in dietary behavior related to eating salty food, both Korean and American respondents thought that the amount of their daily intake of salt is appropriate and that they consider taste as most important in selecting a snack. Based on the above data, the results of this research indicate a need for actual improvement in the diet with regard to salty food along with diverse policies for promoting life with a low salt diet in future.

This study investigated the effect of salt preference on dietary habits and the body composition of university students. The subjects were divided into two groups: 85 students who dislike salt (salt-dislike (SD) group) and 104 students who like salt (salt-like (SL) group). We found that the SL group showed a higher preference for sweet, sour, spicy, and bitter flavors compared to the SD group. There was no significant difference in the frequency of eating breakfast according to the salt taste preference. The meal speed of the SL group was significantly higher than the SD group (p〈0.01) and the body mass index of the SL group (22.59kg/m2) was higher than SD group (21.04kg/m2). The fat mass of the SL group (15.30 kg) was higher than the SD group (12.80 kg) (p〈0.01). Salt preference and snack intake frequency had a significant and positive correlation with fat mass. The frequency of eating breakfast, and meal speed also showed a significant and positive correlation with subcutaneous fat. In conclusion, the SL group eats relatively more, speedily and frequently intakes snacks and carbonated drinks, likely resulting in higher body and subcutaneous fat. These results suggest salt preference is related to food choice, influences unreasonable eating habits, and possibly changes body composition. Taste preferences should therefore be considered for dietary consulting and nutritional education.