Résumé
In the worldwide context of healthy diet, a reduction of sodium intake is recommended. However, low-salt foods are poorly appreciated by consumers due to flavour drawbacks. Among the various strategies under investigation to compensate for salt reduction at a sensory level, the combination of aroma-taste interactions and tastants heterogeneous distribution is a promising one. This study aimed at examining the effectiveness of such a strategy throughout the full eating experience. To do so, Temporal Dominance of Sensation (TDS) was used to assess the saltiness enhancement in hot model snacks specifically designed to vary in salt and aroma distribution. According to an optimized experimental design, 5 four-layer model snacks were designed with the same total amount of sodium and aroma, but their distribution varied in each layer. First, a consumer panel (n=57) rated intensity of 7 well-selected attributes (tastes and aromas) for each product. A second sensory panel (n=15) rated, for each product, their sensation during time using TDS (7 attributes). The consumer study confirmed that heterogeneous products were perceived saltier than homogeneous ones. Nevertheless, salt perception was more dependent on salt distribution than aroma distribution. The TDS results showed a highest dominance of saltiness and its persistence in mouth for products with heterogeneous salt distribution, regardless of aroma distribution. Furthermore, in all heterogeneously-distributed-salt snacks, a pulse of salty dominance was observed at the beginning of consumption. The results of both panels highlight that heterogeneity of salt distribution highly increases saltiness. Moreover, TDS results suggest that this increase is mediated by a first dominance of salty taste during consumption. In contrast, heterogeneous distribution of aroma, even if increasing aroma perception, did not lead to a higher saltiness enhancement. These findings demonstrate that heterogeneous distribution of salt combined to aroma saltiness enhancement is an efficient way to develop tasty lowsalt food.