Multidisciplinary insights for salt reduction and flavor enhancement in foods: integrating strategies via molecular design, taste signal transduction, and cognitive perception

Salt, as a vital food additive, is indispensable in human life. However, excessive sodium intake poses a significant risk factor for hypertension and cardiovascular diseases, underscoring the imperative for effective salt reduction and flavor enhancement strategies in the food industry. Conventional salt reduction flavor enhancement (SRFE) strategies include salt substitutes, optimized salt physical forms, salty peptides (SPs), non-thermal processing (NTP) technologies, odor-induced saltiness enhancement (OISE), and gradual salt reduction. Although numerous studies have evaluated the feasibility, consumer acceptance, and practical applications of these methods, few have comprehensively compared their underlying mechanisms. This review fills this gap by comprehensively examining the saltiness enhancement mechanisms, applications, and limitations of these strategies. Moreover, it summarizes saltiness perception evaluation methods, ranging from traditional approaches to novel intelligent sensory technologies. The analysis categorizes SRFE mechanisms into three types: molecular design, taste signal transduction, and cognitive regulation. Furthermore, novel intelligent sensory technologies, by capturing dynamic cortical responses to taste stimuli, supply crucial data for understanding the biological basis of taste encoding and perception. This review provides a holistic framework for developing next-generation, health-centric food systems to tackle global health challenges like hypertension, ultimately promote human well-being in the context of global wellness.