# Strategies for Reducing Sodium Intake in Bakery Products, a Review
## 3 The Technological Effect of Sodium Chloride in Bread Making
The rate of release of the salty taste during chewing depends on the structure of the bread crumb and the amount of NaCl in the product. Bread with low amounts of NaCl has been described as having a more acidic or yeasty taste. Moreover, significant changes in crumb structure have been reported when different amounts of NaCl were added [12]. It has been shown that the use of sodium as compound in different ingredients significantly reduces the perception of the bitter taste [54]. It seems that the positive effects of sodium chloride on the aroma are due to its effect on the water activity. Reducing the amount of free water by adding salt changes the ratio between free water and the bounded water, which influences the volatility of flavor compounds [55]. Moreover, an essential contribution in the formation of flavor compounds is due to the Maillard reaction [56]. As mentioned above, melanoidins are also responsible for the golden-brown color of the bread crust during baking and therefore unsalted or low-salt bread will have a light crust, a weaker aroma, and a bland taste [24]. Obtaining bread with a low salt content (up to 0.3%) is technically easy to be done via a few changes in the bread making process, with a finished product maintaining the same qualities, except for taste. An interesting technique in this respect, although not one that can be applied to all production systems, involves the inhomogeneous distribution of salt in the bread, which allows a 28% reduction of the salt content, while maintaining the intensity of the salty taste [12]. The textural properties of bread are very important in terms of their acceptance and choice by consumers. They can be evaluated both sensorially and instrumentally. Salt, as mentioned before, has a major impact on the gluten network development during the dough mixing process. The addition of sodium chloride leads to a strengthening effect on the gluten network, stabilizes the fermentation rate of the yeast, increases the dough mixing time, and improves the aroma and porosity of the bread crumb [57]. During the dough making and baking, the appearance of gas bubbles leads to the dough expansion and finally, the loaf volume and texture of the finished product. Gas bubbles have a limited expansion correlated with their stability and possible gases released from the dough system. Therefore, it is very important that the walls of the gas bubbles to be stable during baking but also during other technological stages. Moreover, the dough must present a good gas retention capacity for porosity, elasticity and a specific loaf volume in order to be accepted by consumers [1]. As the salt content of the dough decreases, the activity of the yeast increases leading to a finished product with a higher loaf volume. At low salt amounts levels of 0.7-0.8% the yeast cells multiplication increases, but above this concentration the yeast multiplication process is slowed down due to the plasmolysis process from the yeast cells. Moreover, the addition of salt in the dough reduces the activity of enzymes, both proteolytic and amylolytic, due to the action of salt on the protein part of enzymes [45]. However, less salt can induce a weakening effect on the protein network and to a lower gas retention capacity which will lead to bread with irregular porosity and low loaf volume [31]. From a textural point of view, a comparative study between a bread without salt and a bread with a salt content of 4% reported that there was a high difference between bread samples of about 40% in the firmness value of the bread crumb after a 24 h storage period. This shows that the firmness of the bread crumb decreases with the reduction of the amount of salt from bread and is closely related to the increase of the loaf volume of the finished product [58]. The increase in firmness with the presence of salt in bread can be explained by the conformational changes of the gluten proteins in the salt presence [45].