Practical application of preference mapping in commercial products for the development of low-sodium tomato-rosella ketchup

• Developed a low-sodium ketchup using tomato and rosella blends. • Applied preference mapping to optimize flavor and texture. • Increased antioxidant content with higher rosella ratios. • Reduced sodium content while maintaining consumer acceptance. • Aligned with global health goals to lower dietary sodium. This study sought to investigate the process of developing a low-sodium tomato-rosella ketchup through the application of preference mapping techniques which explored the various attributes of commercially available existing ketchup brands. Eight sample brands were examined and found that consumers preferred ketchup with viscosity of 3.81–6.93 Pa.s, consistency of 11.51–18.28 N.s, firmness of 0.46–0.74 N, cohesiveness of 0.26–0.45 N, overall acid content of 3.09–3.87 % w/w, and a viscosity index of 5.84–10.63 N.s. For the tomato-rosella ketchup development, 100 % tomato ketchup (T100:R0) was used as the control, whereupon the rosella proportions in the tomato ketchup were varied for investigation: T75:R25, T50:R50, T25:R75, and 100 % rosella ketchup (T0:R100). The results found that as the rosella content increased, L* a* b*, texture, viscosity, pH, total solids, and total soluble solids were decreased. In contrast, increasing the rosella content resulted in an increase in both antioxidant activity (ABTS and FRAP) and total phenolic content. In addition, the T25:R75 ketchup received a moderate liking score (7.10) and was just right in terms of viscosity and taste. This formulation was therefore selected for further development to produce a low-sodium tomato-rosella ketchup via the substitution of the salt by KCl. The findings indicated that when NaCl was reduced by 25 %, and KCl increased by 25 %, this formulation showed no significant difference when compared to the tomato-rosella ketchup ( p > 0.05) containing only NaCl when using the R-index method. Consequently, adding rosella to ketchup might be an option to satisfy consumer demand for a functionally attractive innovative product.