Low-salt bread ‘technically feasible’

Formulating breads with one-quarter of current levels of salt is possible without adverse effect on the rheological properties and the performance of the dough, according to a new study.

However, total removal of salt led to significant deterioration of the dough and bread quality, say the researchers from University College Cork.
“Omission of salt resulted in uneven crumb structure and high crumb hardness on day five post-baking, however these effects were not present when salt was included in the formulation, even at low levels of addition, i.e. 0.6 or 0.3 per cent, wrote the researchers, led by Professor Elke Arendt from the Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences.
“The results of our study indicate that the production of bread containing lower salt levels is technologically feasible, but the taste needs to be improved.