REDUCING OF SODIUM CONTENT IN MEAT PRODUCTS - TECHNOLOGICAL POSSIBILITIES, QUALITY PARAMETERS AND HEALTH ASPECTS

Common salt (NaCl) is ingredient which is in use for meat conservation since ancient time till today. NaCl affects flavour, texture and water activity of processed meat products. Excessive intake of sodium can be cause of human hypertension, especially in sodium sensitive people. Daily intake of sodium should not be more than 1500 mg and no more than 1000 mg in people with congestive cardiovascular diseases. Meat product are one of the main source of sodium. Because of positive effects on the human healt, basic task of this project is reducing of sodium content in meat products and investigation of the possibility to produce meat products with less sodium chloride content without the impact on technological possibilities and quality parameters. In this project will be examined the impact of other chloride salts such as potassium and magnesium chloride on the technological properties, sensory and textural characteristics of meat products; diffusion of these salts into meat during the production of dry meat; possibility to extend the shelf life of meat products with reduced sodium content, packaging under vacuum conditions and using of modified atmosphere packaging; examination of gene responsible for synthesis of atrial natriuretic peptide in normotensive and hypertensive persons in the aim of development of method for fast determination of sodium sensitivity; and finally offer the meat products with less sodium in the diet of cardiovascular patients.