Effects of substitution of NaCl with KCl, L-histidine, and L-lysine on instrumental quality attributes of cured and cooked pork loin

This study evaluated the effect of substituting of NaCl with varying amounts of a combination of KCl, L-histidine (L-his), and L-lysine (L-lys) on the instrumental characteristics of cooked loin. Fifteen cooked loins were produced by replacing 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% of NaCl with the salt substitute. Experiments were conducted in triplicate to determine the water-holding capacity (WHC), and T2 relaxation time, and a texture profile analysis (TPA) and color determination test were also performed. T2 relaxation time analysis indicated that substitution affected the distribution of water by increasing the proportion of immobilized water and improving the WHC. results of TPA and color tests showed no adverse effect from using the experimental treatments. Results showed that 50% was the most suitable substitution ratio (actual 30.15% subsitution level of NaCl), for which the Na content was approximately 27% lower than that of the control for cooked loin.