TYPE Editorial PUBLISHED 30 March 2023 DOI 10.3389/fnut.2023.1155604 Editorial: Low-fat and low-salt OPEN ACCESS cheeses: Technological strategies to improve the nutritional profile EDITED AND REVIEWED BY Tülay Özcan, Bursa Uludaǧ University, Türkiye *CORRESPONDENCE Carina Bergamini and sensory characteristics cvberg@fiq.unl.edu.ar SPECIALTY SECTION This article was submitted to Carina Bergamini1*, Erica Hynes1 , Antonio-José Trujillo2 and Food Chemistry, María Cristina Perotti1 a section of the journal Frontiers in Nutrition 1 Instituto de Lactología Industrial, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Universidad Nacional del Litoral (UNL), Santa Fe, Argentina, 2 Centre d’Innovació, Recerca i RECEIVED 31 January 2023 Transferència en Tecnologia dels Aliments (CIRTTA), CERTA-TECNIO, Department of Animal and Food ACCEPTED 10 March 2023 Science, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Bellaterra, Spain PUBLISHED 30 March 2023 CITATION Bergamini C, Hynes E, Trujillo A-J and KEYWORDS Perotti MC (2023) Editorial: Low-fat and low-salt cheeses: Technological strategies to low-fat cheeses, low-salt cheeses, technological strategies, sensory characteristics, improve the nutritional profile and sensory nutritional profile, cheese ripening characteristics. Front. Nutr. 10:1155604. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2023.1155604 COPYRIGHT © 2023 Bergamini, Hynes, Trujillo and Perotti. This is an open-access article distributed under Editorial on the Research Topic the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or Low-fat and low-salt cheeses: Technological strategies to improve the reproduction in other forums is permitted, nutritional profile and sensory characteristics provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. Dairy foods, especially fermented products, are positively valued by consumers both No use, distribution or reproduction is from sensory and nutritional viewpoints, and they provide highly bioavailable calcium permitted which does not comply with these terms. and proteins. Cheeses share those positive aspects and also shows two drawbacks: high saturated fat and high sodium. High intakes of these nutrients are related to chronic and non-transmissible pathologies such as obesity, hypertension, and cardiovascular diseases. Over the last decades, awareness has risen worldwide about the relation between diet and health, and both consumers and industry mind food composition (1). Different strategies have been proposed to reformulate cheeses for fat and salt reduction, improving their nutritional profile. However, decreasing these components leads to diminished sensory characteristics, mainly texture and flavor, and could also affect microbial safety. In this sense, salt plays important roles in the cheese properties through multiple functions as it imparts taste and aroma, regulates the water activity, the microbial growth (starter and non-starter bacteria and adventitious microorganisms), the enzymatic activity and biochemical changes during ripening, and influences the casein hydration and its susceptibility to proteolysis, among others. Fat, on the other hand, has a main influence on the texture, aroma, and taste of cheeses. Therefore, the cheese making of good quality and highly acceptable low-fat and/or low-salt cheeses represents a great challenge for the dairy industry (2, 3). This Research Topic is aimed at collecting studies about the application of different strategies to obtain healthier cheeses, with lower fat and salt contents, and with good global quality and consumer acceptability. In this special e-collection, there are four articles covering some of the aspects related to salt reduction in cheeses, which are described later, while no articles were received about the strategies for the reduction of fat in cheese and the impact on quality. The main strategies reported about the last topic have been focused on increasing moisture retention through different changes in the cheese making, including Frontiers in Nutrition 01 frontiersin.org Bergamini et al. 10.3389/fnut.2023.1155604 the addition of different ingredients, such as protein enrichment verified an enhancement of the saltiness when sardine aroma (salt- of the milk, especially with microparticulated whey proteins (4, associated) was added to cheeses. The same effect, but to a lesser 5) or with the use of ultrafiltrated milk. In addition, diverse extent, was found for butter aroma (fat-associated). In addition, a polysaccharides were also used as fat mimetics such as sodium blend of these two aroma compounds led to an enhancement of fat carboxymethyl cellulose and waxy rice starch (6) and inulin (7), perception. The mechanisms of sensorial interactions are complex among others. Other strategies involved the modification of the and more studies are needed to understand them. The reaction of cheese proteins by the treatment with transglutaminase (6) or the consumers to including these ingredients and displaying them on modification of the fat structure by homogenization (8). Finally, the product label should also be explored (Tidona et al.). adjunct cultures were used to improve the flavor of fat-reduced The choice of starter cultures and coagulants, and the cheeses (4). adaptation of the cheese making technology offer opportunities Regarding the strategies to obtain sodium-reduced cheeses, to counteract, at least partially, the several drawbacks detected the mini-review entitled “The reduction of salt in different cheese by reducing salt content in cheese but depending on cheese categories: recent advances and future challenges,” by Tidona et al., variety (Tidona et al.). In this way, Gagnaire et al. showed summarizes the salt reduction strategies for soft, semi-hard, that some properties of Swiss-type cheeses were more affected hard, and mold-ripened cheeses. This article highlights that any by highly proteolytic Lactobacillus helveticus strains than by the modification in the salting procedure needs to be investigated decrease of 30% of salt. The reduction in salt could also affect for each type of cheese to ensure a regular ripening process, the microbial lysis and the release of enzymes that act during sensory acceptance, and the safety of the product. The decrease ripening; this highlights the importance of a suitable selection of in NaCl and its partial replacement by KCl have been the most starter in reduced-salt cheeses (Gagnaire et al.). Regarding the successful and best-characterized strategies for several types of microbial safety of reduced-salt cheeses, protective cultures, which cheeses. The study of Juan et al., “The effect of salt reduction produce inhibitory compounds or exert a competitive inhibition, and partial substitution of NaCl by KCl on physicochemical, or the addition of natural preservative compounds could replace microbiological, sensorial and consumers’ acceptability of semi- the inhibitory effect of the salt on undesirable microorganisms hard and hard lactose free cow’s milk cheeses,” showed that the (Tidona et al.). reduction in salt (>25%) by different brine conditions (half the To summarize, the reduction in salt in cheese must be carried salting time and partial substitution of NaCl by KCl in the brining out with care because salt has multiple functions; the effectiveness composition) did not affect the physicochemical characteristics (pH of the individual or combined strategies with this objective should and dry matter), microbial growth, proteolysis, texture, and color be assayed in each type of cheese because the impact could of cheeses. Similarly, Gagnaire et al., in the article entitled “Little be different. Many aspects remain to be explored, such as the impact of NaCl reduction in Swiss-type cheese,” demonstrated that application of nanotechnology, which is one of the most innovative the reduction in the NaCl by 30% did not change the Swiss-type and least explored strategies. Research on the market and consumer cheese characteristics. trends should also be considered when new products are developed. Other approaches are based on the modification of the salinity In addition, a better understanding of the sensorial interactions perception through changes in the textures and structure of the would allow the design of effective strategies to maintain cheese food matrix and by the incorporation of different components, acceptability while reducing salt and fat content. which produce sensory cross-interactions (9, 10). In this sense, the use of polysaccharides could influence salt perception through cheese texture modification. In addition, the fat content showed Author contributions an inverse relation with the salinity, which could be associated with changes in the cheese texture or also with a barrier effect All authors listed have made a substantial, direct, and of fat toward the salt release in the mouth (10, 11). On the intellectual contribution to the work and approved it other hand, the incorporation of flavor enhancers (monosodium for publication. glutamate, ribonucleotides, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, and yeast extract), bitter blocked agents (glycin, lysin, taurine, and adenosine- 5’monofosfate), and aroma compounds (such as aromatic species) Funding has shown a potential for the obtention of good quality low-salt foods. The incorporation of cultures able to produce compounds This study was supported by the Project PICT 2019-01633 with these properties is another suitable option. In the article of funded by Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica Juan et al., the addition of yeast extract as a flavor enhancer to (ANPCyT, Argentina), Project CAI+D 2020 N◦ 50620190100105LI semi-hard and hard cheeses led not only to a higher salt but also funded by Universidad Nacional del Litoral (UNL, Argentina), and to a higher bitter note and aftertaste, which negatively impacted Project PIP 2021/2023 N◦ 11220200100863CO funded by Consejo consumer acceptability. It is needed to find suitable levels of these Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET, ingredients to obtain favorable results for each case and to study Argentina), and R + D + I project “Foods with enhanced whether the microbiota could metabolize them and produce other nutritional profiles for populations with specific nutritional compounds with a positive or negative impact on the cheese flavor. requirements,” Comunitats RiS3CAT funded by Agència de Suport In the article “Reducing salt content in real cheeses while increasing a la Competitivitat de l’Empresa Catalana (ACC1Ó), Generalitat de salty taste and fat perception using aroma,” Syarifuddin et al. Catalunya (Spain). Frontiers in Nutrition 02 frontiersin.org Bergamini et al. 10.3389/fnut.2023.1155604 Acknowledgments that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. CB, EH, and MP acknowledge the financial support of Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica (ANPCyT), Universidad Nacional del Litoral (UNL), and Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Argentina. Publisher’s note A-JT acknowledges the Agència de Suport a la Competitivitat de l’Empresa Catalana (ACC1Ó), Generalitat de Catalunya (Spain). All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, Conflict of interest the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by The authors declare that the research was conducted its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships publisher. References 1. Belec N, Smeu I, Macri A, Vallauri D, Flynn K. Reformulating foods to meet 6. Li H, Liu Y, Sun Y, Li H, Yu J. 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