Salt (NaCl) reduction in cooked ham by a combined approach of high pressure treatment and the salt replacer KCl

• Salt consumption is linked to cardiovascular diseases.
• Processing methods to reduce the salt content in meat products are needed.
• An HP treatment (100 MPa, 5 min, after tumbling) can contribute to the salt reduction in cooked ham.
• The salt replacer, KCl (0.2%), can be combined with this HP treatment for a further salt reduction.

The food industry must develop effective methods to address the reduction of salt in meat products and contribute to the reduction of salt consumption associated with cardiovascular diseases. This paper investigated the effect of NaCl content (0, 0.95, 1.33 and 1.90%), phosphate content (0 and 0.25%) and the use of high pressure processing (HPP) (100, 300, 600 MPa) at different processing stages (raw material, after injection, tumbling and cooking) on the quality parameters (cooking loss, texture, water holding capacity, color and saltiness perception) in cooked ham. The application of HPP to the raw meat or after its injection was detrimental to the structure and water retention of the salt-reduced cooked ham. Whereas the application of HPP at 100 MPa after tumbling was beneficial. A further salt reduction up to 1.1% NaCl was possible by the salt replacement with KCl (0.2%) in combination with the HP treatment.Industrial relevanceHigh-pressure treatment can help in the production of salt-reduced meat products but efforts are needed to understand the feasible levels of NaCl, phosphates and specific HP treatments to apply in commercial scenarios. The present paper describes a strategy to produce a salt-reduced cooked ham (45% reduction) using a HP treatment at 100 MPa after tumbling stage in combination with KCl (0.2%).