Reduction in sodium chloride content in saltine crackers through an edible coating

Aiming to reduce the sodium content in saltine crackers, the present study employed a methodology of salt coating that provided an inhomogeneous distribution of salt so that the salt perception was not altered. To this end, three cracker recipes were prepared and compared. Recipe 1 (F1) was the standard, Recipe 2 (F2) had a 33.3% reduction in salt in the dough, and Recipe 3 (F3) had no salt in the dough but instead a salty coating with the same amount of salt as F2. Physicochemical and sensory analyses revealed that F1 and F3 were not statistically different in salt perception, whereas F2 differed from the others. From these results, it was concluded that the methodology of covering crackers with a salty coating with a 42.5% salt reduction could be an alternative to achieving salt reduction.