Sodium chloride flavor effects

Flavor is an outstanding characteristic of dry-cured ham. The odor-active compounds of this product have been recently identified, and these data have shown the great importance of both lipid and amino acid derived compounds. To obtain samples with odor characteristics similar to those of dry-cured ham, several temperatures were applied to meat samples, and a mild temperature was selected. Compounds previously identified as dry-cured ham odorants were researched by SPME-GC-MS, and the effect of several factors on them was checked. The increase of sodium chloride content caused a general increase in aldehydes, except for 3-methylbutanal. The addition of sodium nitrite caused a general decrease, specially in straight-chain aldehydes. The addition of cysteine and proline on the odorants identified was less important. Reaction time influenced the odorants, with a marked effect on pentanal and hexanal. 

Like hydrogen ions, salt has a number of other important functions in cured meat which are outside the scope of this article. Callow (1947) has summarized earlier studies on swelling and texture changes of muscle tissue in salt. Ingram (1949a) and Hankins et al. (1950) discuss the salty flavor in bacon. Bulman and Ayres (1952) have contributed to the already extensive literature on the preservative effect of sodium chloride and other curing salts. 

Apply some common sense when you read MSDSs and bottle labels. Using these chemicals does not mean you will experience the consequences that can potentially result from exposure to each chemical. For example, an MSDS for sodium chloride states, "Exposure to this product may have serious adverse health effects." Despite the apparent severity of this cautionary statement, it would not be reasonable to expect people to stop using sodium chloride in a chemistry experiment or to stop sprinkling a small amount of it (as table salt) on eggs to enhance their flavor. In many cases, the consequences described in MSDSs from exposure to chemicals are somewhat overstated, particularly for students using these chemicals to perform a laboratory experiment. 

These residues from cleaning agents and other fluids containing surfactants (e.g., cetyl pyridinium chloride and cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide) may have bacteriostatic effects or cause flavor taints. To determine quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs), they are first extracted into solvent (1,1,2,2-tetrachlor-ethane) and then detected by the formation of a pink color with dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate (Aerosol T), which is quantified by spectrophotometry. 

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