“We were working specifically with a population of older adults to see if we could reduce the amount of salt in a product and then tailor it to their tastes,” said Carolyn Ross, a professor of Food Sciences at Washington State University.
For the study, researchers recruited 39 healthy people over the age of 60 to participate in an in-person taste-testing experiment that took place over several days slightly before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Previous research examining saltiness perception in older adults has tended to use water as a matrix for tasting experiments rather than actual food products.
To generate more realistic data in terms of what people enjoy eating, researchers used a white sauce formulation that is commonly found in ready-to-eat Cajun chicken pasta meals.
The study participants were asked to compare three different formulations of the sauce at five different salt concentrations. One of the formulations had no added herbs, the second had just herbs, and the third had both herbs and chipotle seasoning.
Their results showed the formulation with both herbs and chipotle seasoning made it difficult for the seniors to determine the amount of salt being used while the formulation with exclusively herbs did not.
In addition to administering the taste test, the researchers surveyed their participants about their oral and olfactory health, the number and type of medications they were taking, and any other pre-existing conditions that might affect their saltiness perception.
Their analysis showed there was a positive correlation between poor oral health and the number of medications each participant was taking, which could be a result of less saliva production; however, their data on whether or not this was the main cause of lowered saltiness perception wasn’t conclusive.
Researchers plan to follow up with a larger study evaluating lower salt concentrations as well as different herb and spice concentrations and by recruiting more participants for in-person studies.
Source: Medindia
