Physicochemical and microbial changes during the manufacturing process of dry-cured lac  on salted with potassium, calcium and magnesium chloride as a partial replacement for sodium chloride Jos  e M. Lorenzo a, * , Roberto Bermúdez a , Ruben Domínguez a , Andrea Guiotto b , Daniel Franco a , Laura Purri ~ nos a a Centro Tecnol ogico de la Carne de Galicia, Rúa Galicia N  4, Parque Tecnol ogico de Galicia, San Cibr an das Vi~ nas, 32900 Ourense, Spain b GISVA, S.A., Polígono de Sab on, Parcela 146, Arteixo 15142, A Coru~ na, Spain article info Article history: Received 19 June 2014 Received in revised form 6 October 2014 Accepted 14 October 2014 Available online 22 October 2014 Keywords: Meat product Low salt Chloride salt Partial substitution abstract The influence of three salting treatments (treatment II: 50% NaCl-50% KCl; treatment III: 45% NaCl, 25% KCl, 20% CaCl 2 and 10% MgCl 2 and treatment IV: 30% NaCl, 50% KCl, 15% CaCl 2 and 5% MgCl 2 ) on the physicochemical properties, microbial counts through the dry-ripening process and on the sensory characteristics of the final product was evaluated and compared to those of control lac on (treatment I: 100% NaCl). Microbial counts showed significant (P < 0.05) differences among batches, since the higher counts were obtained in the dry-cured lac on submitted to formulations II. Statistical analysis did not show significant (P < 0.05) differences in the moisture content between control and treatment II, whereas the moisture content in treatment III and IV was significantly higher (P < 0.05) in comparison with control (treatment I). On the other hand, texture parameters were significantly (P > 0.05) affect by sodium replacement, since the higher shear force values were obtained in the dry-cured lac on submitted to formulations II. Regarding mineral content, a significant reduction (P < 0.001) of the Na content was achieved through the partial substitution of NaCl by the mixture of chloride salts employed during their production. Finally, both control batch and those submitted to treatments III and IV were preferred by the assessors with respect to overall acceptability attribute than those submitted to treatment II, so that these treatments could be successfully used for sodium reduction. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction In recent years consumer studies have begun to show that meat consumption is being more and more influenced by health and nutritional considerations (Fonseca & Salay, 2008). Mean daily so- dium intakes of populations in Europe ranges from about 3 to 5 g (8e11 g NaCl; EFSA, 2005). On a popular basis, it has been estab- lished that the consumption of more than 6 g NaCl/day/person is associated with an age-increase in blood pressure. Therefore, lim- itation of dietary sodium intake should be achieved by restricting daily salt (sodium chloride) intake to less than 5 g per day (WHO/ FAO, 2003). In the case on Spain, in 2008 the Spanish Food Safety and Nutrition Agency started a salt reduction plan with certain specific goals enabling intake to go down from the current value of 9.7 g/day to an intake of less than 8.0 g/day by 2014. Dry-cured lac on is a salted, dried and ripened meat product manufactured in the northwest of Spain by traditional methods that use pork foreleg as the raw material (Lorenzo, García Font an, Franco, & Carballo, 2008a). The manufacturing process is very similar to that of dry-cured hams, in regard to the steps, equipment and facilities required (Lorenzo, Martínez, Franco, & Carballo, 2007). The final product is usually consumed after cooking; how- ever, it can be consumed in the raw state if the ripening period has been long enough. Due to the connection between sodium and coronary heart diseases, the demand of consumers for a variety of low salt meat products with the same quality characteristics has increased (Ruusunen & Puolanne, 2005). Sodium reduction in meat products is possible but difficult to achieve due to the numerous technological properties of NaCl, especially in the meat industry. In fact, NaCl is an essential ingredient in processed meat products, contributing to the water holding capacity, color, fat binding properties, flavor and texture. In addition, it is known that salt has an impact on physicochemical properties and sensory characteris- tics (Purri ~ nos, Bermúdez, Temper an, et al., 2011), which are * Corresponding author. Tel.: þ34 988 548 277; fax: þ34 988 548 276. E-mail address: jmlorenzo@ceteca.net (J.M. Lorenzo). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Food Control journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/foodcont http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2014.10.019 0956-7135/© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Food Control 50 (2015) 763e769