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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Raleigh, North Carolina » Food Science Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #61508
Title: BALANCING MACROMINERAL COMPOSITION OF FRESH-PACK CUCUMBER PICKLES TO IMPROVE NUTRITIONAL QUALITY AND MAINTAIN FLAVOR

Author
item McFeeters, Roger
item Fleming, Henry

Submitted to: Food Quality Journal
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/29/1996
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: In general, the sodium levels in American diets are far higher than are required. At the same time, the amount of the other essential macrominerals, potassium, calcium, and magnesium, consumed are near, or in the case of calcium, slightly below recommended amounts. We have been able to reduce sodium by up to 40%, compared to a commercial fresh-pack Kosher dill pickle formulation, and replace the sodium with potassium, calcium, and magnesium to improve the balance of macrominerals. Kosher dill pickles made in this way, with the addition of citric acid and a small amount of hot pepper sauce to modify the flavor, had a flavor acceptability equal to that of the full sodium pickles, based upon a side by side evaluation by over 100 people.

Technical Abstract: The macromineral nutritional balance of fresh-pack Kosher dill cucumber pickles was improved without loss of flavor quality. A product with flavor acceptability equal to the original product was obtained if NaCl was reduced by 40% from 2.0% to 1.2%. In this product, 0.8% KCl was added to replace the 0.8% reduction in NaCl. CaCl2 and MgCl2 were added proportionately to match the daily value (DV) of the added KCl. In addition to changes in mineral composition, low levels of both citric acid and hot pepper sauce were added to improve flavor acceptability. The flavor acceptability of Kosher dill pickles was rated higher than the 2.0% NaCl control when the NaCl concentration was reduced 20% from 2.0 to 1.6%, and 0.4% KCl was added to replace the NaCl. Again, CaCl2 chloride and MgCl2 were added in addition to KCl at a level which gave the same proportion of the DVs of these minerals as 0.4% KCl. The highest flavor acceptability in the product with 20% less NaCl was obtained when only citric acid was added as a flavor modifier.